''The New World of English Words, or, a General Dictionary'' is a dictionary compiled by

Edward Phillips Edward Phillips (August 1630 – c. 1696) was an English author. Life He was the son of Edward Phillips of the crown office in chancery, and his wife Anne, only sister of John Milton, the poet. Edward Phillips the younger was born in Strand, L ...

and first published in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1658. It was the first

folio The term "folio" (), has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for a book ma ...

English dictionary.

As well as containing common words, the dictionary featured many unusual words, foreign terms, proper nouns and other specialist terms. In total, the original edition featured 11,000 entries, increasing to 17,000 by the fifth edition in 1696. It was later revised and enlarged by

John Kersey John Kersey the younger ( fl. 1720) was an English philologist and lexicographer of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. He is notable for editing three dictionaries in his lifetime: ''A New English Dictionary'' (1702), a revised ...

in 1706, eventually containing 38,000 entries. Kersey had already compiled his own dictionary, ''

A New English Dictionary ''A New English Dictionary: or, a complete collection of the most proper and significant words, commonly used in the language'' was an English dictionary compiled by philologist John Kersey and first published in London in 1702. Unlike previous d ...

'', in 1702, and used this revised edition of ''

The New World of English Words ''The New World of English Words, or, a General Dictionary'' is a dictionary compiled by Edward Phillips and first published in London in 1658. It was the first folio English dictionary. Contents As well as containing common words, the dictiona ...

'' as the basis for his more concise ''

Dictionarium Anglo-Britannicum The ''Dictionarium Anglo-Britannicum'' is a dictionary compiled by philologist John Kersey, which was first published in London in 1708. It was the third dictionary he had edited, after his 1702 ''A New English Dictionary'' and his 1706 revision o ...

'' in 1708.

Plagiarism

At least half of the entries were copied directly, without permission, from Thomas Blount's ''

Glossographia Thomas Blount (1618–1679) was an English antiquarian and lexicographer. Background He was the son of Myles Blount of Orleton in Herefordshire and was born at Bordesley, Tardebigge, Worcestershire. He was called to the bar at the Inner T ...

'', which had been published a couple of years before. Blount responded by publishing ''A world of errors discovered in the Interpreter of Hard Words, written against Sir Edward Phillips book entitled A New World'' in 1673.Barber (1997), p. 78; Drake (2003), p. 853.

Full title

"The New World of English words: Or, A General Dictionary:
Containing the Interpretations of such hard words as are derived from other Languages; whether ''Hebrew, Arabick, Syriack, Greek, Latin, Italian, French, Spanish, British, Dutch, Saxon,'' &c. their Etymologies, and perfect Definitions:
Together with all those Terms that relate to the Arts and Sciences; whether ''Theologie, .. Fishing,'' &c.
To which are added the significations of Proper Names, Mythology, and Poetical Fictions, Historical Relations, Geographical Descriptions of most Countries and Cities of the World; especially of these three Nations wherein their chiefest Antiquities, Battles, and other Most Memorable Passages are mentioned; as also all other Subjects that are useful, and appertain to our English Language.
A Work very necessary for Strangers, as well as our own Countrymen, for all Persons that would rightly understand what they discourse, write, or read."

References

Bibliography

*Barber, Charles Laurence, ''Early Modern English'' (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1997). . *Drake, Miriam A., ''Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science'' (2003). . *Hüllen, Werner, ''A History of Roget's Thesaurus: Origins, Development and Design'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005). . *Jackson, Howard, ''Lexicography: An Introduction'' (2002). .

External links

*
The New World of English Words
' (1720) public domain –

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English dictionaries 1658 books {{dictionary-stub