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Before the publication of the first English dictionaries there was little agreement about how
to spell words. It was partly as a result of frustration over the variety of spellings in use at
the time the first dictionaries were compiled. Schoolmasters in particular were keen to bring
some sense to the ‘disorder and confusion’ in spelling. In 1604 Robert Cawdery, a school
master, published his Table Alphabeticall, which is now regarded as the first English
dictionary. However, it contained only a few thousand words, far fewer than the number of
words found in dictionaries that were available for other European languages. This led to
demand for something much more comprehensive.
The publication in 1755 of Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language is justly
regarded as a landmark in the attempt to bring order to a living, evolving language. This
two-volume work included around 43,000 words. Many of the words in it were amusingly
defined – ‘Dull; To make dictionaries is dull work.’ It was also remarkable because of its use
of 118,000 quotations to illustrate the precise meanings of the words. Johnson’s approach
was so successful that for many decades his dictionary remained the most widely used
English dictionary.
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Before the publication of the first English dictionaries there was little agreement about how
to spell words. It was partly (13) __ a result of frustration over the variety of spellings in use
(14)__ the time the first dictionaries were compiled. Schoolmasters (15)__ particular were
keen to bring some sense to the ‘disorder and confusion’ in spelling. In 1604 Robert
Cawdery, a school master, published his Table Alphabeticall, (16)_ is now regarded as the
first English dictionary. However, it contained only a few thousand words, far fewer (17)_
the number of words found in dictionaries that were available for other European
languages. This led to demand for something much (18)__ comprehensive.
The publication in 1755 of Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language is justly
regarded as a landmark in the attempt (19)_ bring order to a living, evolving language. This
two-volume work included around 43,000 words. Many of the words in it (20) _ amusingly
defined – ‘Dull; To make dictionaries is dull work.’ It was also remarkable (21) _ of its use of
118,000 quotations to illustrate the precise meanings (22)_ the words. Johnson’s approach
was (23)_ successful that for many decades his dictionary remained the (24) _____ widely
used English dictionary