paperback

English

Etymology

From paper +‎ back, a shortening of the older term paper-backed book.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpeɪ.pə.bæk/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpeɪ.pɚˌbæk/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

paperback (plural paperbacks)

1. A book with flexible binding.

Synonyms

• pocketbook (US), livre de poche (French contexts)

Derived terms

• trade paperback

Translations

book — see also pocketbook

• Afrikaans: sagteband
• Bulgarian: кни́га с ме́ки кори́ци (kníga s méki koríci)
• Dutch: paperback (nl) m
• Esperanto: broŝuro
• Estonian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: taskukirja (fi), pokkari (fi)
• French: livre broché m
• German: Broschur f
• Greek: χαρτόδετο βιβλίο n (chartódeto vivlío)
• Hindi: पत्रावरणबद्ध पुस्तक f (patrāvraṇbaddh pustak), पेपरबैक f (peparbaik)
• Icelandic: pappírskilja f
• Polish: miękka okładka f
• Portuguese: brochura f
• Russian: кни́га в мя́гкой обло́жке f (kníga v mjáxkoj oblóžke)
• Scottish Gaelic: còmhdach bog m
• Spanish: libro de bolsillo m, libro de tapa blanda m
• Swedish: pocket (sv) c, pocketbok (sv) c, häftad (sv)

Adjective

paperback (not comparable)

1. (of a book) Having flexible binding.

Synonyms

• paperbacked, paperbound, softcovered

Translations

having flexible binding

• Bulgarian: с меки корици (s meki korici)
• Catalan: en rústica
• Dutch: paperback (nl)
• Finnish: pehmeäkantinen (fi), nidottu (fi)
• French: broché (fr)
• German: broschiert (de)
• Greek: χαρτόδετος (el) m (chartódetos)
• Hindi: पत्रावरणबद्ध (patrāvraṇbaddh)
• Hungarian: puha fedelű/fedeles/kötésű/táblás, fűzött (hu), kartonált
• Tagalog: rustika

Verb

paperback (third-person singular simple present paperbacks, present participle paperbacking, simple past and past participle paperbacked)

1. (transitive, publishing) To issue or publish (a book) in a paperback edition.
   • 2009, J. Adamson, Max Reinhardt: A Life in Publishing, page 71:

     Max was anticipating paperbacking The Bodley Head's books in house rather than licensing the paperback rights to a third party, like Penguin, which reduced his royalties and might eventually lose him authors to vertical publishers.

See also

• hardback
• pocketbook
• softcover

References

• “paperback”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English paperback.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpeː.pərˌbɛk/, [ˈpeː.pəɹˌbɛk], [ˈpeː.pɚˌbɛk]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: pa‧per‧back

Noun

paperback m (plural paperbacks, diminutive paperbackje n)

1. a paperback

Adjective

paperback (not comparable)

1. paperback

Declension

Declension of paperback
uninflected	paperback
inflected	paperback
comparative	—
		positive
predicative/adverbial		—
indefinite	m./f. sing.	paperback
	n. sing.	paperback
	plural	paperback
definite		paperback
partitive		—

Slovak

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈpejperbek]

Noun

paperback m inan (relational adjective paperbackový)

1. paperback

Declension

Declension of paperback (pattern dub)

	singular	plural
nominative	paperback	paperbacky
genitive	paperbacku	paperbackov
dative	paperbacku	paperbackom
accusative	paperback	paperbacky
locative	paperbacku	paperbackoch
instrumental	paperbackom	paperbackmi

Further reading

• “paperback”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025