bóklegur

Bóklegur is an Icelandic adjective meaning "bookish" or "relating to books and literature." It describes content, style, or knowledge that is scholarly, literary, or derived from books rather than from practical everyday experience. In usage, bóklegur can refer to textbooks, scholarly prose, or any material that treats topics in a text-heavy, literary manner. The term can carry neutral or slightly formal connotations depending on context and may be contrasted with more practical or experiential modes of knowledge.

The word is formed from bók, meaning "book," and the common adjectival suffix -legur, which conveys "pertaining to" or "like." This makes bóklegur a productive element of Icelandic for describing literary or scholarly characteristics.

In discourse, bóklegur often appears in descriptions of education, literature, and media that foreground textual sources or conventional literary forms. For example, a text with a strong bibliographic apparatus or a course that relies primarily on books may be described as bóklegt efni in some contexts, though usage can vary by speaker.

Related terms include bókmenntir (literature), bók, and bókasafn (library). The term is commonly used in academic and cultural writing to signal a focus on books and textual analysis.

Overall, bóklegur functions as a concise label for things that are book-centered, scholarly, or literary in character, emphasizing books as sources or frameworks for understanding.