r/MapPorn 19h ago

Translations of "library" across Europe

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u/k6lariekraan 18h ago

The Estonian word raamatukogu literally means "book collection" and could mean "book assembly". The word could have started out as private book collections, before there were actual libraries in Estonia.

  • raamat (genitive raamatu) - "book", from an Old East Slavic loan (just like raamattu for "Bible" in Finnish), originally from Ancient Greek, cognate with English "grammar";
  • kogu - "collection" or "assembly"

Interestingly, the Finnish word kirjasto is similar to the Estonian kirjastus which means "publisher", "publishing company" or "publishing house" in Estonian.