Literally 'beech tree' — from Proto-Germanic *bōkō, because early runes were carved into beech wood; German preserves both: 'Buch' and 'Buche.'
A written or printed work consisting of pages glued or sewn together along one side and bound in covers.
From Old English 'bōc' (book, written document), from Proto-Germanic *bōkō (beech tree, letter, written document), from PIE *bʰeh₂ǵ- (beech tree). The Germanic peoples carved their earliest runic inscriptions into beech wood or beech bark, and the word for the tree transferred to the writing surface and then to the writing itself. The same root produced