''An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary'' is a
dictionary
A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies ...
of
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
, a language that is also known as Anglo-Saxon. Four editions of the dictionary were published. It has often (especially in earlier times) been considered the definitive
lexicon
A lexicon is the vocabulary of a language or branch of knowledge (such as nautical or medical). In linguistics, a lexicon is a language's inventory of lexemes. The word ''lexicon'' derives from Koine Greek language, Greek word (), neuter of () ...
for Old English. It is often referred to by the names of its compilers, for example ''Bosworth'' or ''Bosworth & Toller''.
Editions
1838 edition
This was written by
Joseph Bosworth
Joseph Bosworth (1788 – 27 May 1876) was an English scholar of the Anglo-Saxon language and compiler of the first major Anglo-Saxon dictionary.
Biography
Born in Derbyshire in 1788, Bosworth was educated at Repton School as a 'Poor Scholar' b ...
, who in 1858 became the Rawlinsonian Professor of Anglo-Saxon at the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
: the post was renamed in 1916 as the
Rawlinson and Bosworth Professorship of Anglo-Saxon, in Bosworth's honour.
1898 edition
While being attributed to "J. Bosworth & T. N. Toller", this was a revision by
Thomas Northcote Toller
Thomas Northcote Toller (1844–1930) was the first professor of English language at Manchester and one of the editors of ''An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary'' which had been begun by Joseph Bosworth
Joseph Bosworth (1788 – 27 May 1876) was an Eng ...
, based on Bosworth's 1838 dictionary, Bosworth's papers, and additions by Toller.
1921 edition
Thomas Northcote Toller
Thomas Northcote Toller (1844–1930) was the first professor of English language at Manchester and one of the editors of ''An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary'' which had been begun by Joseph Bosworth
Joseph Bosworth (1788 – 27 May 1876) was an Eng ...
issued a supplement in 1921.
1972 edition
Alistair Campbell issued an edition with "enlarged addenda and corrigenda" in 1972.
See also
*''
Toronto Dictionary of Old English'', an attempt to compile a comprehensive and exhaustive dictionary beginning in 1970, founding editors
Angus Cameron and
Christopher Ball
Christopher Ball (7 July 1936 – 7 April 2022) was a British composer, arranger, conductor, clarinetist and recorder player.
Early life and education
Ball was born in Leeds in 1936. His father had trained in piano tuning and his mother was a ...
.
References
*Bosworth, J., & Toller, T. Northcote. (1898). ''An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary''. Oxford: Clarendon Press. (Based on Bosworth's 1838 dictionary, his papers & additions by Toller)
*Toller, T. Northcote. (1921). ''An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary: Supplement''. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
*Campbell, A. (1972). ''An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary: Enlarged addenda and corrigenda''. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
External links
''An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online''The 1838 edition
*An
OCR text version of th
1898 edition
{{Authority control
Old English dictionaries
1838 books