Dictionaries & Lexicons

ARTFL Project
A growing collection of historical language dictionaries and humanities computing projects. Includes FRANTEXT, nearly 2,000 French scholarly editions in many genres, Provencal poetry databases, the Corpus de la litterature narrative du Moyen Age au XXe siecle, and more.

Database of Latin Dictionaries
Using the "Advanced Search" option, researchers can search the following dictionaries either individually or as a group: Blaise - Patristic (Dictionnaire latin-français des auteurs chrétiens, 1954, 1967, 2005); Firmini Verris Dictionarius (Dictionnaire médiéval latin-français, 1440); Du Cange (Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, ed. 1883-1887); Blaise - Medieval (Dictionnaire latin-français des auteurs du moyen-âge, 1975).

Fontes Anglo-Saxonici
A register of written sources used by authors in Anglo-Saxon England. It identifies written sources which were incorporated, quoted, translated or adapted anywhere in English or Latin texts which were written in England prior to 1066, or by Anglo-Saxons in other countries.

Glossarium Mediae et Infimae Latinitatis
Du Cange's essential dictionary of Medieval Latin, offered here in a digital version by the École Nationale des Chartes. It is also included in the Database of Latin Dictionaries (above).

Lexikon des Mittelalters
The Lexikon des Mittelalters is the standard encyclopaedia for the European Middle Ages, containing over 36,700 signed articles by 3000 authors. Coverage extends from 300 to 1500 AD/CE for the whole of Europe and parts of the Middle East and North Africa. A multilingual interface (English, French and German) allows users to search by headwords, subjects, keywords, etc. Search results may be printed or saved to disk.

Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus
Jan Frederik Niermeyer's compendious and practical lexicon provides French, English, and German translations for nearly every Medieval Latin concept. Many entries are contextualized with relevant text passages.

Middle English Compendium
Designed to offer easy access to and interconnectivity between three major Middle English electronic resources: an electronic version of the Middle English Dictionary, a HyperBibliography of Middle English prose and verse (based on the MED bibliographies), and an associated network of electronic resources.

Old English Corpus
A complete record of surviving Old English derived from over 3000 different texts from ca. 450-1100 A.D.

Oxford English Dictionary
A historical dictionary of English, covering the language from the earliest times to the present day. Entries contain detailed etymological analysis and are illustrated by quotations from a wide range of English language sources from around the world, making the OED a unique historical record.

Opera del Vocabolario Italiano
The database contains 1849 Italian vernacular texts (21.2 million words, 479,000 unique forms) the majority of which are dated prior to 1375, the year of Giovanni Boccaccio's death.

Perseus Project: Tools & Lexica
Latin and Greek dictionaries, morphological analysis tools, vocabulary generators, tools for searching Latin idioms and phrases, and more.

Pocket Oxford Latin Dictionary
A dictionary with both Latin-English and English-Latin sections, containing some 60,000 entries. NB - Access provided through the Oxford Reference Online collection.

Suda On Line: Byzantine Lexicography
In addition to the core translation of entries in the Suda, a 10th century CE compilation of material on ancient literature, history, and biography,  this project attempts to assemble an xml-encoded database, searchable and browsable on the web, with annotations, bibliographies and hypertextual links to a variety of other electronic resources.

Medieval Latin Dictionaries


by Professor Jan Ziolkowski


Finding an unusual word, determining the precise meaning of a word, or tracing the history and origins of a word in Medieval Latin can be an adventure that leads all over Widener Library. Call numbers are also given for volumes held in Smyth Classical Library (a keyed library for the use of Harvard Classics students and faculty only). Those entries that commence with an asterisk (*) are dictionaries, lexica, and glossaries that have proved to be particularly useful to English-speaking enthusiasts of Medieval Latin. If you find any inaccuracies, please let me know.


IN ONE VOLUME

* A Glossary of Later Latin to 600 A. D. /
Souter, Alexander. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1949.
Location: Smyth: R 3.30

Location: Widener: 5235.38 and RR 2383.2

* Mediae latinitatis lexikon minus /
Niermeyer, Jan Friedrich. Leiden: Brill, 1954-1976. A ML-French/English dictionary in one large volume (with a small companion volume to identify sources).
Location:Smyth: R 3.32.1
Location: Widener: RR 2383.1

Dictionnaire latin-francais des auteurs chrétiens /
Blaise, Albert. Strassburg: Le Latin Chrétien, 1954. Addenda et corrigenda, 1962 and 1975.
Location: Widener: 5245.47

Lexicon latinitatis medii aevi: praesertim ad res ecclesiasticas investigandas pertinens /
Blaise, Albert. Turn-hout: Brepols, 1975. Note: Blaise also produced a dictionary of litur-gical terms. This one volume is difficult to use.
Location: Widener: 5245.52

Lexicon manuale ad scriptores mediae et infimae latinitatis /
Maigne d'Arnis, W. Paris: J.P. Migne, 1858. Paris: Garnier, 1890.
Location: Smyth Corridor: R 3.58
Location: Widener: 5292.6 and 5292.8

* Revised Medieval Latin Word-List from British and Irish Sources /
Latham, R. E. London: Published for the British Academy by the Oxford University Press, 1965. (In the reference room of Lamont.)
Location: Smyth R 3.60
Location: Widener: WID-LC PA2891.13, 5292.17.5


IN TWO OR MORE VOLUMES (IN PROGRESS)

Novum glossarium mediae latinitatis ab anno DCCC usque adannum MCC /
Blatt, Franz. Copenhagen: Munks-gaard, 1969-. L through Perlysus.
Location: Child Memorial: 260.6
Location: Widener: RR 2383.5

Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13
Jahrhundert. Munich: Beck, 1967-. A through I (partial). This and the foregoing are excellent, but are obviously only partial and are more difficult for most English-speaking users than the Latham and Howlett, which is also more complete.
Location: Widener: 5293.225


*Thesaurus linguae latinae. Leipzig: Teubner, 1900-. Midway through P, this thesaurus is entirely in Latin (no definitions in English or any other modern language) and covers Latin only through the year 600.

Location: Smyth R 3.8F
Location: Widener: 5224.10F


IN TWO OR MORE VOLUMES

* Glossarium ad scriptores mediae et infimae latinitatis /
DuCange, Charles du Fresne, and G.A. Louis Heschel. Seven volumes. Paris: Didot, 1840-1850.
Location: Widener: 5292.10.1

Lexicon totius latinitatis /
Forcellini, Egidio. Four volumes. Revised by F. Corradini. Padua, 1864-1887.
Location: Widener: 5223.25

Lexicon totius latinitatis: Onomasticon /
Forcellini, Egidio. Two volumes. Padua, 1913-1920. Names only.
Location: Widener: 5223.25

Universal vocabulario en latin y en romance /
Palencia, Alfonso de. Two volumes. Seville, 1490. Reprinted: Madrid: Comisión Permanente de la Asociación de Academias de la lengua Española, 1967.
Location: Widener: 5245.39.25


RESTRICTED TO THE LATIN OF ONE NATION OR AREA

Thesaurus linguae scriptorum operumque Latino-Belgicorum Medii Aevi. 5 volumes. Paul Tombeur. Turnhout: Brepols, 1982. [BELGIUM]

Location: Widener: WID-LC PA8118.B4 I5

* Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources /
Latham, Ronald Edward, and David Howlett. London: Oxford University Press, 1975-. Through M. [BRITAIN]
Location: Smyth R 3 60.5
Location: Widener: RR 2383.8F

Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum. Prague: Academia Scientiarum Bohemoslovaca, 1977-. Parts 1-16 in 6 vols. [CZECHOSLOVAKIA]

Location: Widener: WID-LC PA2893.C9 L37 X, 1977

Lexicon mediae latinitatis Danicae /
Blatt, Franz. Aarhus: Aarhus Universitetsforlag, 1987-. 5 fascicles. [DENMARK]
Location: Widener: WID-LC PA2893.D36 O73 X 1987

Glossarium Latinitatis medii aevi Finlandicae. Ed. Arvi Konhonen. Reino Hakamies. Documenta historica quibus res nationum septentrionalium illustrantur, edidit Academia Scientiarum Fennica 10. Helsinki 1958. [FINLAND]

Location: Widener: 5292.34

Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis regni Hungariae jussu et auxiliis Academiae Litterarum Hungaricae /
Bartal, A. Leipzig, 1901. Reprinted 1970. [HUNGARY]
Location: Widener: 5291.35

Latinitatis italicae medii aevi (inde ab a. 476 usque ad a. 1022) /
Arnaldi, Francesco. Lexicon imperfectum. Bruxelles: Secrétariat administratif de l'U. A. I., 1939-1964. Torino: Bottega d'Erasmo, 1970. [ITALY] Addenda I-III (A-Coxendix). Ed. Pasquale Smiraglia. Torino: Bottega d'Erasmo, 1978. Reprint with additional addenda: Florence: SISMEL Edizioni del Galluzzo, n.d.
Location: Widener: 5293.495

Lexicon latinitatis Nederlandicae medii aevi: Woordenboek van het middeleeuws latijn van de Noordelijke Nederlanden /
Fuchs, Johan W., founder. Ed. Olga Weijers, Mrijke Gumbert-Hepp. Amsterdam: Hakkert, 1970-. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1981-. Stops short of Erasmus in its chronology. Through fascicle 54. [NETHERLANDS]
Location: Widener: 5293.448

Lexicon mediae et infimae latinitatis Polonorum /
Bireknmeyer, A., R. Grodecki, and others. Warsaw: Polska Akademia Nauk, 1953-. Ongoing. [POLAND]
Location: Widener: 3286.17.5F

Glossarium mediae latinitatis Cataloniae, voces latinas y romances documentadas en fuentes catalanas del año 800 al 1100 /
Bassols de Climent, Mariano. Barcelona: Univer-sidad de Barcelona, Departamento de Filología del C.S.I.C., 1960-. Through D. [SPAIN]
Location: Widener: 7236.244

Glossarium mediae latinitatis sueciae /
Westerbergh, Ulla, and E. Odelman. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1968-. Through R. [SWEDEN]
Location: Widener: 5245.35

Lexicon latinitatis medii aevi Jugoslaviae /
Kostrencic, Marko. Zagreb: Editio Instituti Historici Academiae Scientiarum et Artium Slavorum Meridionalium, 1969-. 7 fascicles in 2 vols. [YUGOSLAVIA]
Location: Widener: 5293.480


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

Bibliotheca lexicologiae medii aevi /
Tremblay, Florent A. 10 vols. Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 1988-1989. A bibliography, of which two volumes (2-3) are on lexica in the Middle Ages.
Location: Andover-Harv. Theol: Ref. Z7028.L47 T74 1988
Location: Widener: WID-LC PA2882.Z99 T74 1988x

Le Vocabulaire latin des principaux thèmes liturgiques /
Blaise, Albert. Turnhout: Brepols, 1966.
Location: Andover-Harv. Theol: Ref. BX1970.B53
Location: Widener: 5293.460

Le Vocabulaire latin de l'expérience spirituelle dans la tradition monastique et canoniale de 1050 à 1250 /
Miquel, Pierre. ISBN 2-7010-1150-7.
Location: Andover-Harv. Theol: BV5025.M56 1989
Location: Widener: CP 140.19 vol. 79

"Les glossaires et les traités de grammaire du moyen age."
Della Casa, Adriana. La lexicographie du latin médiévale et ses rapports avec les recherches actuelles sur la civilisation du moyen-âge, Paris 18-21 octobre 1978. Colloques internationaux du Centre national de la recherche scientifique 589. Paris: Éditions du Centre nationale de la recherche scientifique, 1981. Pp. 35-46.
Location: Widener: WID-LC PA2887.L49 1978

Lingua patrum. Corpus Christianorum /
Sanders, Gabriel, and Van Uytfanghe. P. 181. (Especially useful for dictionaries of Church Latin etc.)
Location: Andover-Harv. Theol: Ref. BR60.C46 v. 1
Location: Widener: WID-LC PA2306.Z99 S26 1989x

Voces. Eine Bibliographie zu Wörtern und Begriffen aus der Patristik (1918-1978) /
Sieben, Hermann Josef. Patristische Kommission der Akademien der Wissenschaften in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland "Bibliographia patristica. Internationale patristische Bibliographie" Supplementum 1. Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1980. [RR 4811.46.3 vol. 4] Bibliography on studies of individual words and terms in patristic Latin.
Location: Andover-Harv. Theol: Ref. BR66.5.S6 1980
Location: Widener: WID-LC BR60.Z99 B535x

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