A Latin Dictionary
Text | A Latin Dictionary Founded on Andrews' Edition of Freund's Latin Dictionary at Wikisource |
---|
A Latin Dictionary (or Harpers' Latin Dictionary, often referred to as Lewis and Short or L&S, occasionally Levis & Brevis) is a popular English-language
History
The work is usually referred to as Lewis and Short after the names of its editors,
The division of labour between the two editors was remarkably unequal. Short, a very thorough but slow worker, produced material for the letters A through C, but B and C were lost by Harpers, meaning that his work now appears only in the letter A (216 pages), while Lewis, who worked in the time he could spare from his law practice, was solely responsible for the entries beginning with the letters B through Z (1803 pages).[2] In 1890 Lewis published a heavily abridged version of the dictionary, entitled An Elementary Latin Dictionary, for the use of students. Sometimes called the Elementary Lewis, it is still in print today.
The adoption of the book by Oxford University Press was the result of the failure of its own project to create a new Latin-English dictionary in 1875.
From the time of its publication, many scholars have criticized the dictionary for its errors and inconsistencies.[6] Because of various circumstances, however, no replacement was attempted until 1933, with the Oxford Latin Dictionary, which was completed in 1983. In 2020, Lewis & Short was reprinted under a new publisher.[7]
The dictionary's full text (year 1879) is available on-line at numerous websites.
Comparison with other dictionaries
Among classicists, Lewis and Short has been largely superseded by the Oxford Latin Dictionary, called the OLD for short. Lewis and Short incorporated material from existing Latin dictionaries; the OLD, by contrast, started from scratch, following procedures similar to those of the well-regarded Oxford English Dictionary. Thanks to the increased availability of modern editions, the OLD editors had access to a larger variety of classical works.[8] It was decided in the OLD's planning that the OLD would not encompass Latin written later than AD 200, excepting a small few exceptions. Although classicists still consult Lewis and Short, they tend to prefer the OLD. Lewis and Short retains value for its refined sense of the nuances of English diction as it interfaces with Latin diction (in contrast with OLD's preference for plainer diction) and also for the sensitivity of its quotations from classical texts, reflecting this.
Lewis and Short's primary focus is on classical Latin, not medieval Latin. Nevertheless, Lewis & Short is consulted by medievalists, renaissance specialists, and early modernists, as it includes some Late and Medieval Latin, if somewhat inconsistently, and classical Latin usages are very relevant in medieval Latin. The
On occasion people confuse Lewis and Short (or L&S) with Liddell and Scott, its Greek counterpart, entitled A Greek–English Lexicon. The 1925 and later editions of Liddell and Scott are commonly referred to by the abbreviation LSJ after the names of its editors Liddell, Scott and the editor of the 1925 revision, Jones.
See also
References
- ^ See the advertisement of the book itself, available on WikiSource.
- ^ Sypher, Francis Jacques (October 1972). "A History of Harpers' Latin Dictionary". Harvard Library Bulletin. 20 (4): 349–66.
- S2CID 142620309. Retrieved 29 November 2013. Nettleship, Henry (1889). Contributions to Latin lexicography. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
- ISBN 9780199580316. Archived from the original(PDF) on 27 March 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
- ISBN 9780199568406.
- ^ For example:
- Dilke, O.A.W. (October 1959). "Final -e in Lewis and Short". Greece & Rome. 6 (2): 212–213. S2CID 162777913.
- Dunbabin, R.L. (December 1934). "Notes on Lewis and Short". The Classical Review. 48 (6): 212–214. S2CID 246873817.
- Dunbabin, R.L. (February 1935). "Notes on Lewis and Short (Continued)". The Classical Review. 49 (1): 9–12. S2CID 161788928.
- Fletcher, G.B.A. (November 1936). "More Notes on Lewis and Short". The Classical Review. 50 (5): 165–166. S2CID 163561744.
- Inge, W.R. (February 1894). "Annotations in Lewis and Short's Lexicon". The Classical Review. 8 (1/2): 25–27. S2CID 162343579.
- Ingram, John K. (1893). "Etymological Notes on Lewis and Short's Latin Dictionary". Hermathena. 8 (19): 326–344. JSTOR 23036732.
- Kirkland, J.H. (1893). "Some Errors in Harpers' Latin Dictionary". The American Journal of Philology. 14 (3): 362–364. JSTOR 288076.
- Knapp, Charles (1893). "Corrections and Additions to Lewis and Short in Connection with Aulus Gellius". The American Journal of Philology. 14 (2): 216–225. JSTOR 288106.
- Laidlaw, W.A. (November 1946). "Lewis and Short: Some Corrigenda and Addenda". Hermathena (68): 32–45. JSTOR 23037562.
- Leeper, Alexander (1899). "Notes on Lewis and Short's Latin-English Lexicon". The American Journal of Philology. 20 (2): 169–185. JSTOR 287803.
- Maguinness, W.S. (February 1936). "Notes on Lewis and Short". The Classical Review. 50 (1): 9–10. S2CID 163920884.
- Moore, Frank G. (1894). "Corrections and Additions to Lewis and Short". The American Journal of Philology. 15 (3): 348–355. JSTOR 287815.
- Dilke, O.A.W. (October 1959). "Final -e in Lewis and Short". Greece & Rome. 6 (2): 212–213.
- ISBN 9781999855789.
- JSTOR 437022.
- ISSN 0013-8266.
External links
- Browse text at Perseus
- Perseus Word Study Tool, including Lewis and Short and Lewis's Elementary Latin Dictionary
- Logeion, combining Lewis and Short with other Latin and Greek dictionaries, with an offline version for iOS
- Translatum LSJ, combining Lewis and Short with other Latin and Greek dictionaries in a hyperlinked wiki environment.
- Latin Dictionary Archived 30 January 2020 at the Wayback Machine, Lewis and Short and Whittaker's Words for iOS
- Glossa Archived 29 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Lewis and Short for the web and desktop (based on Adobe AIR)
- Verba, Lewis and Short for Mac OS X
- Diogenes, ancient text browsing application including Lewis and Short
- Lewis & Short's Latin–English Dictionary for Windows Archived 27 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine with color-coded definitions and quotations
- Catalogue page from Oxford University Press[permanent dead link]
- Archli Dictionaries., Free online dictionaries including Lewis & Short, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography e.t.c.