A person who is excessively devoted to a pursuit, often used in Latin phrases like 'helluo librorum' (a voracious reader of books); a glutton for something.
From Latin 'helluo' meaning glutton or spendthrift, possibly related to a root meaning 'to swallow.' The term was preserved in learned English usage, particularly in describing passionate book collectors.
'Helluo' appears in Latin phrases that English scholars preserved—'helluo librorum' perfectly captured the image of someone so obsessed with reading that they consume books as voraciously as food, making it a scholar's inside joke.
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