A Dictionary of the English Language facts for kids
Title page from the second edition of the Dictionary
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| Author | Samuel Johnson |
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| Country | Great Britain |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Dictionary |
| Publisher | consortium |
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Publication date
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15 April 1755 |
| Pages | 2348 |
| Text | A Dictionary of the English Language at Wikisource |
A Dictionary of the English Language, often called Johnson's Dictionary, was a huge and important book published on April 15, 1755. It was written by Samuel Johnson, a famous English writer. This dictionary is one of the most influential dictionaries ever made for the English language.
Back in 1746, people weren't happy with the dictionaries available. So, a group of London booksellers hired Samuel Johnson to create a new one. They paid him 1,500 guineas, which was a lot of money back then! Johnson thought he could finish the dictionary in three years, but it actually took him seven. He worked mostly by himself, with only a few assistants to help copy down the example sentences he found in books. Johnson even made several updated versions of his dictionary during his lifetime.
For 173 years, Johnson's dictionary was considered the best English dictionary, until the Oxford English Dictionary was finally completed. Many people, like the writer Walter Jackson Bate, believe it's one of the greatest achievements by a single scholar.
Contents
Why a New English Dictionary?
In the 1700s, more and more people were learning to read and write. Books, newspapers, and other printed materials became much cheaper and easier to find. This meant there was a big need for a clear way to spell words, define them, and use proper grammar. People wanted an official dictionary for the English language.
In 1746, a group of powerful London printers and booksellers, including Robert Dodsley and Thomas Longman, decided to create this dictionary. They couldn't do it alone, so they teamed up. They wanted to meet the growing demand from the public and make some money too!
Earlier English Dictionaries
Johnson's dictionary wasn't the very first English dictionary. Over 150 years before his, more than twenty dictionaries had already been published in England. The oldest was a Latin-English "wordbook" from 1538 by Sir Thomas Elyot.
Later, in 1583, Richard Mulcaster created a list of eight thousand common words. He wished someone would gather all English words into one dictionary. In 1598, John Florio published an Italian-English dictionary that was the first to use quotes to show what words meant.
The first dictionary that only focused on English words was Table Alphabeticall by Robert Cawdrey in 1604. It had about 2,449 words. After that, more dictionaries appeared, some in Latin, French, or Italian, and some in English. For example, Benjamin Martin's Lingua Britannica Reformata (1749) was important because it defined words in different ways, depending on how they were used.
However, most of these early dictionaries were just simple lists of "hard words" – words that were technical, foreign, or old-fashioned. They didn't really show how the English language was used in everyday life. This is where Dr. Johnson's dictionary made a huge difference. It was the first to truly record the English language as it was spoken and written.
How Johnson Prepared His Dictionary
Samuel Johnson worked on his dictionary at his home in London, at 17 Gough Square. He worked on it for nine years, from 1746 to 1755. In 1747, Johnson wrote a "Plan" for his dictionary. This plan explained how he intended to create the book. He believed that language rules came from how words were used over time, much like legal rules come from past cases.
Johnson's plan got the support of Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, a powerful nobleman. Chesterfield wrote essays praising Johnson's work, saying that the English language needed a "dictator" to bring order to it, and that Johnson was the right person for the job.
However, Johnson wasn't happy with Chesterfield's support. He felt it came too late. Johnson wrote a famous letter to Chesterfield, explaining that he had struggled for seven years without any help or encouragement. He felt that Chesterfield was only offering help now that the work was almost done, like someone offering help to a person who has already reached the shore after struggling in the water.
Inside the Dictionary
A Dictionary of the English Language was a very large and expensive book. Each page was about 18 inches (46 cm) tall and nearly 20 inches (51 cm) wide. The paper was of the best quality, costing more than Johnson was paid to write the book! Johnson himself called it "Proud in its great bulk." No single bookseller could print such a huge book alone.
The title page of the dictionary read:
A
DICTIONARY
of the
ENGLISH LANGUAGE:
in which
The WORDS are deduced from their ORIGINALS,
and
ILLUSTRATED in their DIFFERENT SIGNIFICATIONS
by
EXAMPLES from the best WRITERS.
To which are prefixed,
A HISTORY of the LANGUAGE,
and AN ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
By SAMUEL JOHNSON, A.M.
In TWO Volumes
VOL. I
The words "Samuel Johnson" and "English Language" were printed in red, while everything else was in black.
Definitions and Examples
The first edition of the dictionary had 42,773 words. One of Johnson's most important ideas was to show the meanings of words using quotes from famous writers. He included about 114,000 such quotes! The authors he quoted most often were Shakespeare, Milton, and Dryden.
Here's an example of an entry:
- OPULENCE
- Wealth; riches; affluence
- "There in full opulence a banker dwelt,
- Who all the joys and pangs of riches felt;
- His sideboard glitter'd with imagin'd plate,
- And his proud fancy held a vast estate."
- -- Jonathan Swift
Johnson also added notes on how words were used, which was different from earlier dictionaries that just described them.
Johnson's Humor and Detail
Unlike most modern dictionary writers, Johnson sometimes added humor or his own opinions into his definitions. Some famous examples include:
- "Excise: a hateful tax levied upon commodities and adjudged not by the common judges of property but wretches hired by those to whom excise is paid"
- "Lexicographer: a writer of dictionaries; a harmless drudge that busies himself in tracing the original and detailing the signification of words"
- "Oats: a grain which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people"
He even included some unusual or made-up words, like "Writative," which he noted was a word used by Alexander Pope and shouldn't be copied.
On a more serious note, Johnson's dictionary was incredibly detailed. He put a lot of effort into making sure his definitions and examples were complete. For instance:
- The word "Turn" had 16 definitions with 15 examples.
- "Time" had 20 definitions with 14 examples.
- "Put" had over 5,000 words of explanation across 3 pages.
- "Take" had 134 definitions, taking up 8,000 words over 5 pages!
The dictionary was originally planned to be two large volumes. But it ended up being so big that later printings were in four volumes. Even these four volumes stacked up to 10 inches (25 cm) tall and weighed nearly 21 pounds (9.5 kg)! The price was also very high, which meant not many copies were sold at first.
Johnson's explanations of where words came from (their etymologies) weren't as good as modern ones, and he didn't give much help with pronunciation. For example, he wrote: "Cough: A convulsion of the lungs, vellicated by some sharp serosity. It is pronounced coff." He also preferred older spellings, like "publick," which are different from how we spell them today.
The dictionary followed the alphabetical order of the 1700s. Back then, 'I' and 'J' were seen as the same letter, and so were 'U' and 'V'. So, in Johnson's dictionary, "jargon" comes before "idle," and "vagabond" comes before "ultimate."
Despite some small issues, Johnson's dictionary was by far the best of its time. Its overall design and structure influenced many later dictionaries, including Noah Webster's Webster's Dictionary in 1828 and the Oxford English Dictionary much later.
Different Editions of the Dictionary
Johnson's dictionary came out in two main forms:
- The Folio Edition: This was the very first, large, two-volume edition published on April 4, 1755. It included all the full literary quotes from authors like Dryden and Shakespeare. A second edition came out a few weeks later in weekly parts. The fourth edition in 1773 had important updates by Johnson himself.
- The Abridged Edition: This version came out in 1756. It was smaller, in two volumes, and didn't include the full literary quotes, only the author's name. This made it much cheaper to produce and buy. Because it was more affordable, it sold over a thousand copies a year for the next 30 years, making "The Dictionary" available to many more homes.
Online Versions
Today, you can find Johnson's Dictionary in replica editions. The entire first Folio edition is available online as a digital scan. There's also a project called Johnsons Dictionary Online, which is the first fully searchable online version. It will eventually include the 1775 folio edition.
You can also find the "Preface" (introduction) to the Dictionary on Project Gutenberg. A scan of the 6th edition from 1785 is available online in two volumes.
Images for kids
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Title page from the second edition of the Dictionary
