Promptorium parvulorum
| Author | Attributed to Geoffrey the Grammarian |
|---|---|
| Language | Latin, Middle English |
| Subject | Bilingual dictionary |
| Publication place | England |
The Promptorium parvulorum (Latin: "Storehouse for children") is an English-Latin bilingual dictionary completed around 1440 AD. It was the first English-to-Latin dictionary.[1] It occupies about 300 printed book pages.[2]
The authorship is attributed to Geoffrey the Grammarian, a friar who lived in Lynn, Norfolk, England.[3] After the invention of the printing press, the Promptorium was repeatedly published in the early 16th century by the printer Wynkyn de Worde.[3] In the 19th century, the Camden Society republished it under the extended title Promptorium parvulorum sive clericorum (“Storehouse for children or clerics”).[1]
For language historians it is a major reference work for the vocabulary of late medieval English. It is also a frequently cited source in the Middle English Dictionary, the primary dictionary of late medieval English, published by the University of Michigan.
See also
[edit]- Catholicon Anglicum, an English-to-Latin dictionary dated 1485
References
[edit]- ^ a b Mayhew, A. L., ed. (January 1999). The Promptorium Parvulorum: The First English-Latin Dictionary. Early English Text Society. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Company. ISBN 9780543951038. OCLC 2642049. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
- ^ The Promptorium Parvulorum as published in 1865, downloadable at Archive.org.
- ^ a b Entry for "Geoffrey the Grammarian" in Dictionary of National Biography (edition published 1885-1900), volume 21.
External links
[edit]
 | This article about the English language is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This article related to the Latin language is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This article about a dictionary is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |