Trade, money & letters

Bible

Greeks called papyrus býblos, probably after Byblos (Phoenician Gubla), the port that shipped it from Egypt. A 'little papyrus' became a book, 'the books' became the Bible, and missionaries and translators carried the word from Latin across Europe and from English to Madagascar and Japan.

Weakest linkPossible

The road to English

From Medieval Latin to Middle High German, German

From Medieval Latin to Italian

From Medieval Latin to Spanish, Tagalog

From Medieval Latin to Portuguese

From Medieval Latin to Middle Dutch, Dutch, Afrikaans

From Medieval Latin to Polish, Russian

From English to Malagasy

From English to Japanese

From English to American English

1000 BCEPhoenician

Hops are evenly spaced; labels show the year each form is first attested.