softcoveradj.n.
/ˌsɒf(t)ˈkʌvə/, U.S. /ˈsɔf(t)ˌkəvər/, /ˈsɑf(t)ˌkəvər/ Originally U.S.
A. adj. (attributive).
Of a book, pamphlet, etc.: bound in a soft cover; esp. = paperback adj. 1. Later also: of or relating to paperback books. Cf. softback adj. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > book > kind of book > book of specific form or colour > [adjective] > having specific type of cover > soft
paperbound1847
soft-covered1847
paper-backed1854
paperback1884
softcover1892
softback1958
1892 Rocky Mountain News (Denver) 20 Dec. 6/8 Lost—soft cover book on Curtis, 11th or California sts; liberal reward.
1934 Brooklyn Daily Eagle 10 Jan. 9/1 There are pencil boxes..pads..soft cover notebooks..hard cover notebooks.
1940 Amer. Econ. Rev. 30 896 This is one of the soft-cover, popular treatments of economic problems.
1958 Times 12 Feb. 9/4 Earnings from soft-cover rights, movie rights, etc.
1991 S. Fishman Copyright Handbk. ix. 12/1 The hardcover edition would be published first and then the softcover rights sold at an ‘auction’ at which any number of softcover publishers could bid.
2015 Dalby (Queensland) Herald (Nexis) 20 Nov. 5 Ms O'Halloran ordered 15 soft-cover books at a cost of $20.
B. n.
A paperback book. in softcover: in a paperback edition. Cf. softback n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > book > kind of book > book of specific form or colour > [noun] > with specific type of back or cover
blue book1633
green book1798
paperback1843
paper cover1843
yellowback1859
flat-back1888
greenback1893
paperbound1933
softback1951
hardback1953
hardcover1953
pocketbook1953
softcover1953
trade paperback1960
1953 Amer. Jrnl. Nursing 53 1382/2 Price: hard cover—$5.50; soft cover—$4.75.
1959 J. Kerouac Interview in Empty Phantoms (2005) 151 On the Road sold twenty thousand hard cover copies. And now, five hundred thousand soft covers are being sold.
1961 Guardian 20 Oct. 17/5 Creative fiction will eventually prove itself in soft cover in this mass market.
1990 Oregon Hist. Q. 91 335 The Indian Traders.., first published in 1962, now appears in softcover.
2009 Vanity Fair Jan. 56/1 A book would be published about the case, a supermarket softcover..called Hooked Up for Murder.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1892