George Lemon
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The Reverend George William Lemon (1726 – 4 October 1797) was the author of an early etymological dictionary of the
English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...
, published in 1783. Lemon graduated from
Queens' College Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...
,
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
, in 1748. He was Rector of Geytonthorpe, Vicar of East Walton,
Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
from 1755, and master of
Norwich School Norwich School (formally King Edward VI Grammar School, Norwich) is a selective English independent day school in the close of Norwich Cathedral, Norwich. Among the oldest schools in the United Kingdom, it has a traceable history to 1096 as a ...
from 1769 to 1778. He also held the living of
Mundham Mundham, historically Mundaham or Mundhala, is a small village and civil parish in the county of Norfolk, England. Archaeological and toponymic evidence of Mundham's existence predates its appearance in the Domesday survey of 1086, dating back to ...
St Peter and St Ethelbert, and also
Seething Seething is a small village in Norfolk, England, about 9 miles south east of Norwich. Known as 'Seechin' in Tudor England, it covers an area of and had a population of 341 in 141 households at the 2001 census, the population increasing to 365 ...
, however he was never instituted to them. Lemon married Elizabeth Young (1735 – 25 September 1804) on 31 May 1760. Both are buried in East Walton.


''English Etymology'' (1783)

Lemon considered the English language as founded on six older idioms:Lemon, ''English Etymology'', preface, p. ix :#"The
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
, or Phoenician" ( Semitic) :#"The Greek" :#"The
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, or Italian" ( Romance) :#"The
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...
, or French" :#"The Saxon, Teutonic, or German" ( West Germanic) :#"The Icelandic, and other Northern dialects" ( North Germanic) The entries consequently focus on English words of Latin or Greek derivation. Twenty years before the discovery of Grimm's law, Lemon could not be expected to give sound etymologies of Germanic words, and promptly derived ''acorn'' from Greek ''akros'', or ''addle'' from Greek ''athlos''. Yet Lemon's dictionary is of historical interest as a pioneer work of
philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...
on the eve of the discoveries of William Jones, Friedrich Schlegel and Rasmus Rask that mark the beginning of modern
linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
. Ralph Griffiths' ''
Monthly Review The ''Monthly Review'', established in 1949, is an independent socialist magazine published monthly in New York City. The publication is the longest continuously published socialist magazine in the United States. History Establishment Following ...
'' in 1785 (vol. 7

171-177) reviewed Lemon's dictionary as an ''extraordinary'' and ''delectable'' work:


Works

* ''Two Tracts'', London, 1773 :(a) ‘Additional Observations on the Greek Accents, by the late Edward Spelman, esq.,’ (ed. Lemon) :(b) ‘The Voyage of Æneas from Troy to Italy, in part intended to “lay before the readers specimens of a much larger attempt, viz: an intire new translation of the works of Virgil.”’ *''Græcæ Grammaticæ Rudimenta'', 1774 *''English Etymology Or, A Derivative Dictionary Of The English Language: In Two Alphabets. Tracing the Etymology of those Words that are derived (1.) from the Greek and Latin Languages; (2.) from the Saxon and Northern Tongues. The Whole Compiled From Isaac Vossius, Vossius, Meric Casaubon, Spelman, Somner, Minshew,
Junius Junius often refers to: * Junius (writer), the pseudonym of an 18th-century British political writer of strongly Whig principles * The nomen of the ancient Roman * or , the month of June on the ancient Roman calendar * Rosa Luxemburg's ''Junius Pa ...
, Skinner,
Verstegan Richard Rowlands, born Richard Verstegan (c. 1550 – 1640), was an Anglo-Dutch antiquary, publisher, humorist and translator. Verstegan was born in East London the son of a cooper; his grandfather, Theodore Roland Verstegen, was a refugee f ...
,
Ray Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (g ...
, Nugent, John Upton, Cleland, And Other Etymologists'', 1783. * ''The History of the Civil War between York and Lancaster, comprehending the lives of Edward IV and his brother Richard III. Lynn'', W. Whittingham, 1792


References

*Danby P. Fry (1859) 'On Some English Dictionaries: Alfred Augustus Fry', ''Transactions of the Philological Society'' 6 (1), 257–272. * *Henry B. Wheatley (1865) XV.-'Chronological Notices of the Dictionaries of the English Language', ''Transactions of the Philological Society'' 10 (1), 218–293.


External links

*
English Etymology
' (1783) at the
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lemon, George William 1726 births 1797 deaths British lexicographers Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Headmasters of Norwich School 18th-century lexicographers