“书”字在汉语中有十几种含义,本文只试图探讨一下作为读物或出版物一种的“书”及其同义词“书籍”、“图书”的词源和概念,所知外国有关资料也略为介绍,以便进行比较研究。文字的产生是书籍出现的基本条件,但文字必须书写或用其他方式记录在可携带的载体上供人阅读才能成为书籍。从各国书籍形成的历史,我们看到一个有趣的现象:中外书字的来源多与文字及书写文字的行为、工具或材料有联系。 The word “book” has more than ten meanings in Chinese. This article only tries to explore the etymology and concept of “book” and its synonyms “books”, “books” as a kind of reading or publication. Also a little introduction, in order to conduct a comparative study. The production of words is a basic condition for books to appear, but the words must be written or otherwise recorded on a portable carrier for human reading to become a book. From the history of books formed in various countries, we can see an interesting phenomenon: the sources of Chinese and foreign books are mostly related to the behavior, tools or materials of writing and writing.