1563: Dictionaries and Lexicography Mar 26, 2019

Dictionaries and wordbooks have been around for thousands of years, perhaps beginning with the Sumerians, but these were usually bilingual. However, these often were just lists of word, rather than to include definitions; this is true also of the earliest English dictionary. Indeed, dictionary making only became a science, lexicography, in the 20th century, when the study of how words are used—and not just the fact that people use them—became not only more standardized, but also expectations for lexicographers to study etymology, comparative linguistics, and phonetics increased.