John Kersey the younger facts for kids

John Kersey the younger was an English expert in words and dictionaries who lived in the late 1600s and early 1700s. He is famous for editing three important dictionaries during his lifetime. These were A New English Dictionary (1702), a new version of Edward Phillips' The New World of English Words (1706), and the Dictionarium Anglo-Britannicum (1708).

His dictionaries were among the first to focus on words people used every day. Before him, most dictionaries mainly listed difficult or unusual words.

Who Was John Kersey the Younger?

John Kersey the younger was the son of John Kersey the elder. People sometimes confused him with his father. He helped update his father's work, like the 14th edition of Edmund Wingate's Arithmetic in 1720. It is also likely that he wrote a part called 'Discourse to an unlearned Prince' for a translation of Plutarch's Morals. This translation came out in 1684-1685.

Creating New Dictionaries

John Kersey the younger spent most of his time working on dictionaries. This is called lexicography. He edited the sixth edition of Phillips' New World of Words, which was published in 1706. He added many new words to it. He also published a seventh edition of this dictionary in 1720.

The New English Dictionary

Another dictionary, A New English Dictionary, is also linked to him. The first version of this dictionary came out in 1702. Later editions appeared in 1713 and 1731. While his initials "J. K." were on the title page, some people have wondered if he was fully responsible for this specific book.

The Dictionarium Anglo-Britannicum

In 1708, Kersey's own dictionary, Dictionarium Anglo-Britannicum, was printed. This book aimed to explain all sorts of difficult words. A new version in 1715 included words and phrases from old laws and records. The third edition came out in 1721.

Why His Work Was Important

Experts on dictionaries, Starnes and Noyes, said that Kersey's Dictionarium had about 35,000 words. This was far more than almost any dictionary before it. They also said that Kersey was the first truly outstanding lexicographer.

The early 1700s saw five new dictionaries, and John Kersey was a key figure in this field. He was a notable pioneer because he moved away from old methods. He worked towards more modern ideas for dictionaries. He is known for creating the first universal dictionary. He also made the first shorter, or "abridged," dictionary. His dictionaries were the largest, most useful, and best-made for his time.

A famous poet named Thomas Chatterton later used many old words from Kersey's Dictionarium in his own writings. The exact date of John Kersey the younger's death is not known.