History of English Dictionaries

A Table Alphabeticall, written by Robert Cawdrey in 1604.

Johnson's dictionary, published in 1755 became a standard for over 150 years.

The monumental Oxford English Dictionary, released in 1928 after nearly 50 years of work, was completed.

Published in 1806, this was Noah Webster's first dictionary, A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language.

Noah Webster's later, more comprehensive dictionary, published in 1828, was significant because it included many previously unseen words.

The publisher G&C Merriam acquired Noah Webster's Dictionary in 1843 after his demise.

Dictionaries evolved over time from simple word lists to comprehensive resources that include etymology and textual references to a broad range of texts.

Early dictionaries, like Robert Cawdrey's A Table Alphabeticall (1604), marked the initial steps in the development of the English language dictionary.

Dictionaries are typically organized alphabetically for easy lookup.

Dictionaries serve as comprehensive tools for understanding words (definitions, usage, origin).

John of Garland, an Englishman, coined the term 'dictionary' in 1220.

Richard Mulcaster's 'Elementarie' in 1582 was an early English word list containing 8,000 words.

Robert Cawdrey's 'A Table Alphabeticall' (1604) was the first purely English alphabetical dictionary.

Thomas Blount's 'Glossographia' (1656) contained over 10,000 words with etymologies.

The Oxford English Dictionary was compiled from 1884 to 1928, with the complete version released in 12 volumes.

Noah Webster published his first dictionary, 'A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language' in 1806.

Noah Webster's 'An American Dictionary of the English Language' (1828) was a complete and expanded dictionary containing 70,000 words.

After Webster's death in 1843, G & C Merriam Co. acquired his dictionary and has continued publishing it with revisions.

In 1964, Encyclopedia Britannica took ownership of Merriam-Webster.