28 points

The first ever English dictionary, maybe…

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15 points

For anyone interested here’s a very abbreviated rough list of the first ever dictionaries, summarised from Wikipedia:

  • First Sumerian-Akkadian word list is dated around 2300 BCE.
  • The first surviving monolingual dictionary is Chinese and from 3rd century BCE.
  • First Arabic dictionary was from 8th century.
  • The oldest surviving Japanese dictionary is from 835.
  • The word dictionary was invented by an Englishmen in 1220. There are English-Latin, English- French and English-Spanish bilingual dictionaries from this time.
  • First Latin dictionary was published in 1440.
  • The first alphabetical English dictionary was published in 1604.
  • A Spanish, Italian and French dictionary were published ~1611.
  • The first American dictionary was completed in 1825.

I would have thought there would be dictionary of hieroglyphics before any of them, but if there was it hasn’t survived.

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4 points

So wait is the original meaning of dictionary more like “a way to translate from one language to another?”

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7 points

Bilingual word lists seem to have been first. I guess it depends on how you define what a dictionary is. The very earliest English one wasn’t even in alphabetical order, which seems pretty important for a dictionary imo!

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16 points
*
Deleted by creator
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5 points

I haven’t seen it. Is it worth a watch?

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5 points
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3 points

Neither am I but I’ll give it a go - thanks!

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2 points

It’s a book too, quite good and worth a read

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2 points
*

Maybe they didn’t write it but they must have added a lot of the slurs it has

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-3 points

Is it chatgpt or a stroke?

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-6 points

Just gonna ignore Webster, huh?

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7 points

Published in 1806?

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-3 points
*

And?

edit: I think this is probably the question that came across as combative, so I apologize. I would point out that the American in the screenshot did not say America wrote the first dictionary, just the dictionary, and the screenshot cuts out all context to what was being replied to so do we know it’s incorrect? In America, America wrote the dictionary, and this is a world instance. (I actually would not use the word “America” here, but rather “the US”, but I am matching the phrasing in the post title that America wrote the dictionary)

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5 points

Well I haven’t forgotten Webster, it’s just not relevant because it isn’t remotely close to being the first dictionary. Webster finished his dictionary in 1825. See my other comment for more: https://feddit.uk/comment/2017446

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1 point

What about him?

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-4 points

He wrote the dictionary

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5 points

*a dictionary

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Confidently Incorrect

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When people are way too smug about their wrong answer.

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