Explore the history of the dictionary and the various uses of dictionary definitions. Learn who invented the dictionary and who wrote the first English dictionary.
Updated: 11/21/2023
Dictionary | Definition, History & Uses
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Frequently Asked Questions
What are the benefits of using a dictionary?
Dictionaries have been beneficial since their earliest forms. Some of the first dictionaries were used to simply record the meanings or appearance of symbols used as part of an alphabet. As dictionaries evolved, they provided definitions for words, the origins of how words came to be and evolved, and how they can be properly used within a language. Dictionaries are an important and useful resource both in the classroom and in the common workplace.
What is a dictionary used for?
Dictionaries have a number of important uses. Most commonly, a dictionary can be used to look up the meaning, spelling, usage, origin, or synonyms of any word in most languages. Specialized dictionaries also have been created to define terms more specifically for certain professions, help foreign language learners, or to provide a more detailed look at the origins of words within a language.
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ShowWhat is the definition of the word dictionary? A dictionary is a book or online resource that lists every word in a certain language and provides the user with a standard and recognizable definition of the word. Additionally, synonyms, punctuation, and origins of the word are given. Dictionaries are lists that are usually written in alphabetical order so that the user can search for their desired word more easily. They are found in almost every language that is spoken.
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The word dictionary derives from the Medieval Latin word dictionarium, meaning "collection of words or phrases." The term was first used in the early 1200s to describe a new form of the Latin vocabulary that had been written and published. Dictionaries have expanded over the years as languages have further developed and evolved.
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Who created the dictionary? The history of the dictionary is not nearly as old as the history of written and spoken language, but dictionaries still have a long history that dates back a number of centuries. Dictionaries began as smaller books for relatively small languages, but as languages have grown, so have the size, use, and importance of the dictionary.
Who Invented the Dictionary?
Dictionaries as they are known presently have changed dramatically since some of the earliest writings. Though the term dictionary was created around the 13th century, the earliest forms of the dictionary are said to have been written in the ancient world. The first dictionaries were actually bilingual, meaning that they contained two languages. Some historians consider the Akkadian cuneiform tablets from around 2300 B.C.E. to be the first dictionaries. They were used to catalog specific symbols and their meanings.
The first monolingual dictionary comes from China between the 8th and the 3rd centuries B.C.E. and it was written as a number of verses. Japan created the first dictionary to be written as a list of words around 850 B.C.E. The first Latin dictionary was printed in 1502, and it was later updated to be multilingual. This was important because many other languages are modeled after Latin, such as English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French.
Sebastian Covarrubias of Spain published the first Spanish dictionary in 1611. It was formatted as a list and was monolingual to serve as a reference for the meaning and usage of words within the Spanish language. This dictionary would become a model for the English dictionary that is commonly used in present times.
Who Wrote the First English Dictionary?
Just as the dictionaries of other languages have evolved over time, the English dictionary is no exception. The first English dictionaries were written around 1500 C.E. They acted as more of a glossary, which provided a lengthier definition for a word but neglected to describe how the word could be used within the context of writing. Later dictionaries, such as the Dictionary of Syr Thomas Eliot Knyght (1538) and Dictionarie French and English (1593) were bilingual.
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Robert Cawdrey created the first known English dictionary that employed the use of an alphabetical ordering system called the Table Alphabeticall. It laid the groundwork for every major English dictionary that would be written later, including the English Expositor (1616), the English Dictionary, and Glassographia (1656). These published works contained the first modern usages of dictionary formatting and included the definition, etymology, and usage of words from the language.
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
Samuel Johnson published a two-volume dictionary called Dictionary of the English Language in 1755. It was far more extensive and detailed than any of its predecessors and set a standard for all other dictionaries that would be created later. Johnson's dictionary is widely believed to be the first modern English dictionary because it was so highly accomplished and authoritative of its time.
With the help of six other writers, Johnson created a book that listed over 40,000 words in the English language. He used prior dictionaries as references for his work and added onto the definitions and other details that were provided. Johnson's dictionary included a basic definition, pronunciation, history, usage within a sentence, and synonyms for each word. The dictionary, similar to others, expanded as the English language grew and was updated accordingly.
The Oxford English Dictionary
The dictionary created by Samuel Johnson was used as the standard until the Oxford English Dictionary was published in 1884. The Oxford dictionary was created by Oxford University and is considered one of the most well-known and widely-used dictionaries in the English-speaking world. It has been used as the standard dictionary since its publishing and remains so to the present day.
In 1857, some members of the Philological Society of London felt that earlier copies of the English dictionary were insufficient or outdated, and therefore decided to update the existing dictionaries through a new publication. Following years of extensive research and an in-depth re-examination of the English language and its history, Oxford University agreed to print a new dictionary in 1879. The writing of the publication began around that time, although the book would not be published until five years later.
The original dictionary was intended to be a four-volume series. However, due to the number of words and their definitions being published, the Oxford dictionary ended up taking ten volumes to publish completely. The final volume was published in 1928. Additional editions, supplements, and online materials were created as the English language and technologies evolved.
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There are many uses of the dictionary in any given language. Purposes can range widely based on the topics being explored or reasons for use. Some specific types of dictionaries include:
- Technical dictionaries
- Language learning dictionaries
- Prescriptive dictionaries
- Descriptive dictionaries
- Historical dictionaries
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Each of these types of dictionaries has specific elements that detail the important aspects of a word in relation to the field. For example, a technical dictionary may provide a more in-depth look at a word, whereas a language learning dictionary would provide a simple definition for newcomers to a dialect. The uses and types of dictionaries will be explored in the following sections.
Technical Dictionaries
A technical dictionary is a type of specialized dictionary. They are intended to be used by certain professions or hobbies and often define technical terms that are commonly used throughout these practices. In many cases, technical dictionaries will be used in applied sciences such as biology, chemistry, or organics. Some examples of technical dictionaries include:
- The Language of Biotechnology: A Dictionary of Terms (1933)
- McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms (5th Edition, 1993)
- Cambridge Dictionary of Science and Technology (1990).
Language Learning Dictionaries
Language learning dictionaries are useful tools for foreign language learners. They are commonly used in classrooms as additional learning resources. Language learning dictionaries are written specifically for people who don't speak the target language natively and provide broader definitions with simplified usages. They also may describe specific rules of writing in a language. In the United States, some of the most popular language-learning dictionaries contrast the languages of English and Spanish, English and French, and English and Latin.
Prescriptive vs. Descriptive Dictionaries
All dictionaries are either prescriptive or descriptive, and sometimes a dictionary may aim to be both. A prescriptive dictionary, such as Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language, describes to the user how a word should be used within a language. Many early dictionaries were prescriptive and were concerned with the precise, proper, or standard usage of the English language.
Descriptive dictionaries are found more often in modern times. Authors will describe how a word is spelled and a number of ways it can be used, which does not always just include the proper way to use the word. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary is a common example of a descriptive dictionary.
Historical Dictionaries
Historical dictionaries are very extensive. They focus on the development of a word or language over time and detail the origins or etymology of the word in-depth. Historical dictionaries are most often used by historians or scholars studying the development of human language over the course of history. Sanskrit, Latin, and Greek are some of the most popular languages to be contained within a historical dictionary because many other languages derive from them.
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A dictionary is a book or online resource that includes every word from a language, its spelling, definition, origin, usage, and synonyms to the word. Many of the dictionaries in medieval times were bilingual and were written as glossaries, though historians believe the first dictionaries to come from the Akkadian Empire around 2300 B.C.E. The first English dictionary was called the Table Alphabeticall and it was written by Robert Cawdrey. Later authors, such as Samuel Johnson, would set the standard for later publications of the English dictionary.
The Oxford English Dictionary was released in 1884 and is the most widely recognized and used English dictionary in present times. It has grown and been updated over the years since its publication to remain up to date with the evolving English language. Dictionaries have a variety of uses including technically, to help language learners, or for historical purposes.
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Video Transcript
Definition of the Dictionary
It seems ironic to be defining the term 'dictionary,' but here we go! Dictionaries are resources for finding word meanings, parts of speech, word origins and even synonyms and antonyms. Dictionaries have definitely evolved over the years.
The English language really began with the Anglo-Saxons in Great Britain. The Norse invasion that followed highly influenced the English language as well, but the language didn't stabilize until the latter part of the Medieval period with much more writing. Clearly, our language contains French, Greek, Latin and Germanic roots, as well as influences from Hebrew and other languages. In fact, one of the most difficult parts of being an English language learner is this mishmash of roots and rules.
During the years 1500-1650, it is estimated that the number of known English words doubled. At the end of the medieval period, London became the standard for properly spoken and written English, and during the years that followed, the English language shifted to contain the distinct features it has today.
The First English Dictionaries
One of the first dictionaries, entitled The Dictionary of Syr Thomas Eliot Knyght (1538), was actually bilingual. It was followed by others, such as the Dictionarie French and English (1593) by Claudius Hollyband. It is interesting to note that in 1582, a man named Richard Mulcaster wrote The Elementarie, a spelling guide with undefined words.
In 1604, Robert Cawdrey compiled the first 'authentic' English dictionary, entitled Table Alphabeticall, which contained just 2,543 words and their definitions. Humorously, the subtitle to the book was for the benefit of Ladies, Gentlewomen and other unskilled folk. Cawdrey is to be credited for inventing the idea that a dictionary should flow from A to Z. Some of the definitions are funny, and the spelling of many words is definitely different from today. Only one copy survived, and now it has been reprinted.
Cawdrey's dictionary paved the way for others, like the 1616 English Expositor (1616) by John Bullokar and English Dictionary by Elisha Coles.
In 1656, Glossographia by Thomas Blount was published, containing more than 10,000 words along with their etymologies, or histories. A few years later, a rival dictionary, The New World of English Words: Or, a General Dictionary, was written by Edward Phillips. Phillips boldly plagiarized Blount's work, and the two renounced each other. This created more interest in the dictionaries.
In 1755, one of the most authoritative and famous dictionaries was published by Samuel Johnson in two volumes. It was entitled Dictionary of the English Language. Johnson, with the help of six other people, wrote clever definitions with the goal of writing a dictionary by which the pronunciation of our language may be fixed, and its attainment facilitated; by which its purity may be preserved, its use ascertained and its duration lengthened. It set the standard for dictionaries that followed.
The Oxford English Dictionary
One of the most famous dictionaries of the English language is the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), and we will explore how it came to be developed. In 1857, the Philological Society of London felt that all existing dictionaries were insufficient. We can imagine how the English language had changed over the years, and so the project began. However, it was so extensive that the first portions weren't published until 1884.
The complete dictionary was finished in 1928. It was first entitled A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles, and it contained more than 400,000 words - some dating back to the 1100s. The work is so extensive and thorough that it is still considered to be the standard authority on the English language today.
What Dictionaries Contain
Let's look up the word 'sloth.' We see three definitions in Dictionary.com for this word.
First, a sloth is defined as habitual disinclination to exertion; indolence; laziness. The second definition is any of several slow-moving, arboreal, tropical American edentates of the family Bradypodidae, having a long, coarse, grayish-brown coat often of a greenish cast caused by algae, and long, hook-like claws used in gripping tree branches while hanging or moving along in a habitual upside-down position. The third definition is a pack or group of bears. These three definitions are very different from one another.
The dictionary also identifies the part of speech of 'sloth:' a noun and shows us how to pronounce the word 'slawth.' In addition, we see the origin or the word, and synonyms (words that have similar meanings) and some dictionaries also include antonyms (words that have opposite meanings). We can see how helpful a dictionary can be!
For years, dictionaries were published books, and the process of looking up words could be laborious. With the Internet, we can look up words quickly and more efficiently. The Internet also allows for quick comparisons between types of dictionaries, should we need it.
Lesson Summary
Dictionaries are resources for finding word meanings, parts of speech, word origins and even synonyms and antonyms. One of the first dictionaries, entitled The dictionary of Syr Thomas Eliot Knyght (1538), was actually bilingual. In 1604, Robert Cawdrey compiled the first 'authentic' English dictionary, entitled Table Alphabeticall, which contained just 2,543 words and their definitions.
One of the most famous dictionaries of the English language is the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). It was first entitled A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles, and it contained more than 400,000 words.
Learning Outcomes
All that you learn from this lesson on dictionaries will enable you to:
- Point out the formal definition of a dictionary
- Describe the history of dictionaries
- Realize the importance of the Oxford English Dictionary (the OED)
- Specify the things contained in dictionaries
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Dictionary | Definition, History & Uses
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