Introduction to Old and Middle English: Part I Oxford English Dictionary November 4, 2005 Andreas H. Jucker

The Oxford English Dictionary 1842Founding of the Philological Society in London 1858Resolution to compile a New English Dictionary 1879contract with Clarendon Press (OUP) for the publication of a historical dictionary 1884Part I (A to ANT) published 1902Five out of the final ten volumes completed James Murray

The Oxford English Dictionary 1928First edition completed. Published in ten volumes carrying the title A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles 1933Reissued in twelve volumes, together with a supplement volume containing new words and meanings Publication of the first edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (SOED) 1936Publication of the second edition of the SOED 1957Work on the Supplement begins Four volumes of the Supplement published 1984New OED Project launched 1986Data capture of first edition and Supplement completed volume second edition of the OED published

Oxford English Dictionary  OED First edition ( ) – 10 volumes – 15,490 pages – 252,200 entries – 414,800 word forms – 1,861,200 quotations  OED Supplement (1972, 1976, 1982, 1986) – 4 volumes – 69,300 entries – 527,00 quotations

OED2 /OED3  OED Second edition (1989) – 20 volumes – 21,730 pages – 231,100 entries – 615,100 word forms – 2,436,600 quotations (25,000 from the Bible; 33,300 from Shakespeare)  OED2 on CD-ROM (1992)  OED Third edition (expected 2010)

Facts about OED2  Number of main entries: 231,100  Longest entry in Dictionary: the verb “set” with over 430 senses consisting of approximately 60,000 words or 326,000 characters  Number of word forms defined and/or illustrated: 615,100  Number of pronunciations: 139,900  Number of etymologies: 219,800  Number of quotations: 2,436,600

The Oxford English Dictionary 1992CD-ROM of the second edition released 1993Publication of the New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (NSOED)

The Oxford English Dictionary