bibliocentric

adjective

bib·​lio·​cen·​tric ¦bi-blē-ə-¦sen-trik How to pronounce bibliocentric (audio)
-blē-ō-
1
: placing great or central importance on printed texts
Neither personal nor grounded in immediate circumstance, his was the more sweeping and fundamental distrust with which a bibliocentric society views one grounded in oral practice …Bruce Lincoln, Theorizing Myth: Narrative, Ideology, and Scholarship, 1999
Although the bibliocentric nature of the volume is not entirely unexpected given the subject matter, a more conscientious push into the mainstream of historiographic research … would have been welcome.Vadim Jigoulov, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 1 Apr. 2007
Science journals and reports thrive in an electronic environment. But for bibliocentric disciplines—the humanities and the narrative-driven social sciences—a different calculus applies. Here the book remains the real coin of the academy's imaginary realm.William P. Germano, Getting It Published, 2008
2
: centered on or deriving from the Bible
A bibliocentric regard for sacred texts and the irresistibleness of secular appeal inhabit Tschernichowsky's declaration of faithfulness, a duality that offered a bridge between Hebrew soul and foreign idyll.Joe Lockard, American Indian Quarterly, 1 Jan. 2000
Unlike Platonic esoteric thinking, which embraces a form of secrecy that is much more political and is articulated in an environment that did not cultivate a canonic text, i.e., the Greek polis, rabbinic religiosity gravitated around a bibliocentric mentality.Moshe Idel, Absorbing Perfections: Kabbalah and Interpretation, 2002

Word History

First Known Use

1970, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of bibliocentric was in 1970

Love words?

You must — there are over 200,000 words in our free online dictionary, but you are looking for one that’s only in the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary.

Start your free trial today and get unlimited access to America's largest dictionary, with:

  • More than 250,000 words that aren't in our free dictionary
  • Expanded definitions, etymologies, and usage notes
  • Advanced search features
  • Ad free!

Dictionary Entries Near bibliocentric

Cite this Entry

“Bibliocentric.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bibliocentric. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!