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incunable

incunabulum

noun een-koo-NAH-bleh Rare
Arts & Culture Literature

Origin: From Latin incunabula, 'cradle', referring to the cradle period of printing before 1501.

Also means

early printed book

Usage Note

Incunable refers to any book printed using movable type before 1501, the so-called 'cradle years' of European printing. It is a specialist term in library science, bibliography, and art history. Collectors and archivists use incunable (or the Latin plural incunabula) to describe these rare volumes. Outside academic contexts the word is rarely encountered.

Examples

"La biblioteca conserva un incunable del siglo XV."

Natural Translation

The library preserves an incunabulum from the 15th century.

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