A Dictionary of the English Language, Vol. 1
Samuel Johnson · 1755
Read A Dictionary of the English Language, Vol. 1 by Samuel Johnson (1755) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/johnson-dictionary-english-language-1755-vol1.txt.
Description
Samuel Johnson published his Dictionary of the English Language in 1755, after nine years of mostly solo work. Volume One covers words from A to K. The text here follows the second edition of 1756.
Johnson defines over 40,000 words across the two volumes, with roots and quotations from the best writers. His definitions mix exact care with flashes of wit, as in his famous joke about oats. The dictionary set the standard for English for a hundred years. It also made Johnson famous: the great Cham of literature, in Boswell's phrase, starts here. His preface, printed here, is a classic essay on words and their lives.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Samuel Johnson |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 1755 |
| COLLECTION | REFERENCE |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 2228985 |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | Public Domain |
| RIGHTS | PUBLIC DOMAIN |
| SOURCE | Internet Archive |
Source: https://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_a-dictionary-of-the-engl_johnson-samuel_1756_1