William Laughton Lorimer (1885–1967) was a Scottish scholar. Born at Strathmartine on the outskirts of Dundee, he was educated at the

High School of Dundee The High School of Dundee is an independent, co-educational, day school in Dundee, Scotland, which provides nursery, primary and secondary education to just over one thousand pupils. Its foundation has been dated to 1239, and it is the only priv ...

Fettes College Fettes College () is a co-educational independent boarding and day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, with over two-thirds of its pupils in residence on campus. The school was originally a boarding school for boys only and became co-ed in 1983. In ...

, and

Trinity College, Oxford (That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody) , named_for = The Holy Trinity , established = , sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge , president = Dame Hilary Boulding , location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH , coordinates ...

. He is best known for the

translation Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

of the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...

into Scots. Lorimer spent his professional life as a scholar of

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

at various universities, ending his career as Professor of Greek at the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

. However he also had a lifelong interest in the Scots language and besides the translation, was a longtime contributor to the

Scottish National Dictionary The ''Scottish National Dictionary'' (''SND'') was published by the Scottish National Dictionary Association (SNDA) from 1931 to 1976 and documents the Modern (Lowland) Scots language. The original editor, William Grant, was the driving force b ...

. For the last ten years of his life he worked on translating the New Testament from the original Greek sources into Scots. Although he did not finish the final revision of his translation, the work was completed by his son Robin and published posthumously on his behalf in 1983.

External references

''The New Testament in Scots''
Canongate 1885 births 1967 deaths People from Angus, Scotland People educated at the High School of Dundee People educated at Fettes College Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford Academics of the University of St Andrews Scots-language writers British biblical scholars Scottish lexicographers Scottish translators Translators from Greek Translators of the Bible into Scots 20th-century British translators 20th-century lexicographers {{bible-translator-stub