biblical

See also: Biblical

English

Alternative forms

• Biblical

Etymology

From Medieval Latin biblicus +‎ -al, equivalent to bible +‎ -ical.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɪblɪkəl/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

Adjective

biblical (comparative more biblical, superlative most biblical)

1. Of or relating to the Bible.

   Tithing is both a quranic and biblical virtue.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 3, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

     Sepia Delft tiles surrounded the fireplace, their crudely drawn Biblical scenes in faded cyclamen blending with the pinkish pine, while above them, instead of a mantelshelf, there was an archway high enough to form a balcony with slender balusters and a tapestry-hung wall behind.

2. In accordance with the teachings of the Bible (according to some interpretation of it).

   biblical morality

   The biblical teaching is that…

   • 2023 February 16, Chris McGreal, quoting Mike Pompeo, “Pompeo says Israel has biblical claim to Palestine and is ‘not an occupying nation’”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     Mike Pompeo, the former US secretary of state, has defended Israel’s decades-long control of the Palestinian territories by claiming that the Jewish state has a biblical claim to the land and is therefore not occupying it.

3. (figurative) Very great; especially, exceeding previous records in scale.

   of biblical proportions

   with biblical fury

   • 1984, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Ghostbusters:

     Dr. Peter Venkman: This city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions.
     Mayor: What do you mean, "biblical"?
     Dr. Raymond Stantz: What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath-of-God type stuff.

   • 1998 February 22, Walter Kirn, “The Wages of Righteousness”, in The New York Times‎^[2]:

     Russell Banks's “Cloudsplitter,” a novel of near-biblical proportions about the abolitionist freedom fighter John Brown, is shaped like an explosive with an exceedingly long and winding fuse.

   • 2023 February 14, Damian Carrington, quoting António Guterres, “Rising seas threaten ‘mass exodus on a biblical scale’, UN chief warns”, in The Guardian‎^[3], →ISSN:

     An increase in the pace at which sea levels are rising threatens “a mass exodus of entire populations on a biblical scale”, the UN secretary general has warned.

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:biblical.

Synonyms

• biblic (archaic)

Antonyms

• nonbiblical
• unbiblical

Hypernyms

• scriptural

Hyponyms

• evangelic, pentateuchal, psalmic, Torahic
• New Testament, Old Testament (attributive, rarely New Testamental, Old Testamental)

Coordinate terms

• (by sources of faith) apostolic, conciliar, ex cathedra, Mishnaic, Rabbinic, Talmudic, traditional
• (by religions) Avestan, Qur'anic, Vedic

Derived terms

• antibiblical
• biblical blue
• biblicality
• biblically
• biblical studies
• extrabiblical
• extra-biblical
• in the biblical sense
• know someone in the biblical sense
• postbiblical
• prebiblical

 

Related terms

• biblicism
• biblicist

Translations

of or relating to the Bible

• Arabic: تَوْرَاتِيّ (ar) (tawrātiyy), إنْجِيلِيّ (ʔinjīliyy)
• Asturian: bíblicu (ast)
• Belarusian: бібле́йскі (bibljéjski), біблі́йны (biblíjny), бібле́йны (bibljéjny)
• Bulgarian: библе́йски (bg) (bibléjski)
• Catalan: bíblic (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 聖經的／圣经的 (zh) (shèngjīng de)

• Czech: biblický (cs)
• Danish: bibelsk
• Dutch: Bijbels (nl)
• Esperanto: biblia
• Faroese: bíbilskur
• Finnish: raamatullinen (fi)
• French: biblique (fr)
• Galician: bíblico m
• German: biblisch (de)
• Greek: βιβλικός (el) (vivlikós)
• Hebrew: מִקְרָאִי (miqra'í), תָּנָ"כִי m (tanachí)
• Hungarian: bibliai (hu), biblikus (hu)
• Italian: biblico (it)
• Japanese: 聖書の (ja) (せいしょの, seisho no)
• Korean: 성서의 (ko) (seongseoui)
• Macedonian: библиски (bibliski)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: bibelsk (no)

  Nynorsk: bibelsk

• Occitan: biblic (oc)
• Persian: کتاب‌مقدسی (ketâb-e-moqaddasi)
• Polish: biblijny (pl)
• Portuguese: bíblico (pt)
• Romanian: biblic (ro)
• Russian: библе́йский (ru) (bibléjskij)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: бѝблӣјскӣ

  Roman: bìblījskī (sh)

• Slovak: biblický (sk)
• Slovene: biblijski
• Spanish: bíblico (es)
• Tagalog: bibliyahin
• Ukrainian: біблі́йський (uk) (biblíjsʹkyj), біблі́йний (uk) (biblíjnyj)
• Volapük: bibik (vo)

in accordance with the teachings of the Bible

• Asturian: bíblicu (ast)
• Dutch: bijbels (nl)
• Finnish: Raamatun mukainen, raamatullinen (fi)
• French: biblique (fr)
• Portuguese: bíblico (pt)
• Russian: библе́йский (ru) (bibléjskij)
• Spanish: bíblico (es)
• Volapük: bibik (vo)

very great, exceeding previous records

• Finnish: raamatullinen (fi)
• German: biblisch (de)
• Portuguese: bíblico (pt)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Icelandic: ^{(please verify)} biblíu-
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} biblicus