Ainsworth's Dictionary: Difference between revisions

From Wythepedia: The George Wythe Encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
← Older editNewer edit →
Line 19: Line 19:
}}[[wikipedia:Robert Ainsworth (lexicographer)|Robert Ainsworth]] was born in 1660 in the parish of Eccles, about four miles outside Manchester, England.<ref>R. D. Smith, "[https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/241 Ainsworth, Robert (1660–1743), lexicographer and schoolmaster]," <i>Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.</i> 23 Sep. 2004; Accessed October 1, 2025.</ref> He taught school in Bolton before becoming the master of a boarding school at Bethnal Green, the first of many teaching positions in villages around London.<ref>Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."</ref> Ainsworth wrote on a number of pedagogical topics and was one of the earliest proponents of total immersion for language learning.<ref>Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."</ref> In 1714, he was nominated to create a new Latin and English dictionary. After various delays and obstacles, he published the first edition of ''Thesaurus Linguae Latinae Compendiarius, or, A Compendious Dictionary of the Latin Tongue: Designed for the Use of the British Nations'' in 1736.<ref>Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."</ref> He immediately began working on the second edition with the help of Dr. Samuel Patrick. Ainsworth died in 1743. The second edition, published in 1746 and revised by Patrick, became the definitive version of the work. A popular pubication, editions of the dictionary or various abridgements would continue to be produced until 1882.<ref>Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."</ref>
}}[[wikipedia:Robert Ainsworth (lexicographer)|Robert Ainsworth]] was born in 1660 in the parish of Eccles, about four miles outside Manchester, England.<ref>R. D. Smith, "[https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/241 Ainsworth, Robert (1660–1743), lexicographer and schoolmaster]," <i>Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.</i> 23 Sep. 2004; Accessed October 1, 2025.</ref> He taught school in Bolton before becoming the master of a boarding school at Bethnal Green, the first of many teaching positions in villages around London.<ref>Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."</ref> Ainsworth wrote on a number of pedagogical topics and was one of the earliest proponents of total immersion for language learning.<ref>Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."</ref> In 1714, he was nominated to create a new Latin and English dictionary. After various delays and obstacles, he published the first edition of ''Thesaurus Linguae Latinae Compendiarius, or, A Compendious Dictionary of the Latin Tongue: Designed for the Use of the British Nations'' in 1736.<ref>Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."</ref> He immediately began working on the second edition with the help of Dr. Samuel Patrick. Ainsworth died in 1743. The second edition, published in 1746 and revised by Patrick, became the definitive version of the work. A popular pubication, editions of the dictionary or various abridgements would continue to be produced until 1882.<ref>Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."</ref>


Ainsworth designed his dictionary for use in schools and in teaching the use of both English and Latin for formal composition.<ref> Robert Ainsworth and Thomas Morell, ''An Abridgement of the last Quarto Edition'', (Charles Rivington, 1790) "[https://books.google.com/books?id=cu8-AAAAcAAJ&pg=PT3&lpg=PT3&dq=An+Abridgement+of+the+last+Quarto+Edition+of+Ainsworth%27s+Dictionary,+English+and+Latin&source=bl&ots=KrAPCussFt&sig=hKbAbGjENuVGetTrlsPadAFR9Q0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CC0Q6AEwA2oVChMIvZ2kvMT7xwIVyVc-Ch00Nwr_#v=onepage&q=An%20Abridgement%20of%20the%20last%20Quarto%20Edition%20of%20Ainsworth's%20Dictionary%2C%20English%20and%20Latin&f=false]."</ref> The abridgment omits full verb declination instead focusing on a more efficient presentation of the verb form and a description of the pattern it follows.<ref>Ainsworth and Morell, <i>An Abridgement</i>.</ref> This was done for pedagogical purposes, to attempt to force students to remember the declination and verb forms of the Latin they had to learn.<ref>Ainsworth and Morell, <i>An Abridgement</i>.</ref> The dictionary also contains explanations of homonyms to assist translators in the English section, as well as illustrative quotations from classical authors in the Latin section.<ref>Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."</ref> Along with its linguistic content, the dictionary has a great deal of supplementary information, including a historical account of Latin through the ages,<ref>Robert Ainsworth, <i>Thesaurus linguæ latinæ compendiarius: or, a compendious dictionary of the Latin tongue: designed for the use of the British nations: In three parts. ... By Robert Ainsworth.</i> 3rd ed., printed by C. and J. Ackers, for W. Mount and T. Page, W. Innys, R. Ware, J. and P. Knapton [and 15 others in London], 1751.</ref> a list of common names and their English and Latin etymology,<ref>Ainsworth, <i>Thesaurus linguæ latinæ compendiarius.</i></ref> and even a list of Latin words that were used in Roman law.<ref>Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."</ref>
Ainsworth designed his dictionary for use in schools and in teaching the use of both English and Latin for formal composition.<ref> Robert Ainsworth and Thomas Morell, ''An Abridgement of the last Quarto Edition'', (Charles Rivington, 1790) "[https://books.google.com/books?id=cu8-AAAAcAAJ&pg=PT3&lpg=PT3&dq=An+Abridgement+of+the+last+Quarto+Edition+of+Ainsworth%27s+Dictionary,+English+and+Latin&source=bl&ots=KrAPCussFt&sig=hKbAbGjENuVGetTrlsPadAFR9Q0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CC0Q6AEwA2oVChMIvZ2kvMT7xwIVyVc-Ch00Nwr_#v=onepage&q=An%20Abridgement%20of%20the%20last%20Quarto%20Edition%20of%20Ainsworth's%20Dictionary%2C%20English%20and%20Latin&f=false]."</ref> The ''Abridegment'' omits full verb declination instead focusing on a more efficient presentation of the verb form and a description of the pattern it follows.<ref>Ainsworth and Morell, <i>An Abridgement</i>.</ref> This was done for pedagogical purposes, to attempt to force students to remember the declination and verb forms of the Latin they had to learn.<ref>Ainsworth and Morell, <i>An Abridgement</i>.</ref> The dictionary also contains explanations of homonyms to assist translators in the English section, as well as illustrative quotations from classical authors in the Latin section.<ref>Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."</ref> Along with its linguistic content, the dictionary has a great deal of supplementary information, including a historical account of Latin through the ages,<ref>Robert Ainsworth, <i>Thesaurus linguæ latinæ compendiarius: or, a compendious dictionary of the Latin tongue: designed for the use of the British nations: In three parts. ... By Robert Ainsworth.</i> 3rd ed., printed by C. and J. Ackers, for W. Mount and T. Page, W. Innys, R. Ware, J. and P. Knapton [and 15 others in London], 1751.</ref> a list of common names and their English and Latin etymology,<ref>Ainsworth, <i>Thesaurus linguæ latinæ compendiarius.</i></ref> and even a list of Latin words that were used in Roman law.<ref>Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."</ref>


==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library==
==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library==

Revision as of 17:33, 2 October 2025

by Robert Ainsworth

Ainsworth's Dictionary
Title not held by The Wolf Law Library
at the College of William & Mary.
  
Author Robert Ainsworth
Editor
Translator
Published :
Date
Edition Precise edition unknown
Language
Volumes volume set
Pages
Desc. 8vo

Robert Ainsworth was born in 1660 in the parish of Eccles, about four miles outside Manchester, England.[1] He taught school in Bolton before becoming the master of a boarding school at Bethnal Green, the first of many teaching positions in villages around London.[2] Ainsworth wrote on a number of pedagogical topics and was one of the earliest proponents of total immersion for language learning.[3] In 1714, he was nominated to create a new Latin and English dictionary. After various delays and obstacles, he published the first edition of Thesaurus Linguae Latinae Compendiarius, or, A Compendious Dictionary of the Latin Tongue: Designed for the Use of the British Nations in 1736.[4] He immediately began working on the second edition with the help of Dr. Samuel Patrick. Ainsworth died in 1743. The second edition, published in 1746 and revised by Patrick, became the definitive version of the work. A popular pubication, editions of the dictionary or various abridgements would continue to be produced until 1882.[5]

Ainsworth designed his dictionary for use in schools and in teaching the use of both English and Latin for formal composition.[6] The Abridegment omits full verb declination instead focusing on a more efficient presentation of the verb form and a description of the pattern it follows.[7] This was done for pedagogical purposes, to attempt to force students to remember the declination and verb forms of the Latin they had to learn.[8] The dictionary also contains explanations of homonyms to assist translators in the English section, as well as illustrative quotations from classical authors in the Latin section.[9] Along with its linguistic content, the dictionary has a great deal of supplementary information, including a historical account of Latin through the ages,[10] a list of common names and their English and Latin etymology,[11] and even a list of Latin words that were used in Roman law.[12]

Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library

Listed in the Jefferson Inventory of Wythe's Library as "Ainsworth's dict. Eng. Abridged. 8vo." This was one of the titles kept by Thomas Jefferson and possibly later sold to the Library of Congress in 1815.[13] Brown's Bibliography[14] lists the 1774 London edition while George Wythe's Library[15] on LibraryThing) indicates "Precise edition unknown. Octavo abridgments were published in 1774, 1785, 1790, 1794, and 1798."

To date, the Wolf Law Library has been unable to locate a copy of Ainsworth's Abridgement.

See also

References

External Links

Read the third edition (1790) of this book in Google Books

  1. ↑ R. D. Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert (1660–1743), lexicographer and schoolmaster," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 23 Sep. 2004; Accessed October 1, 2025.
  2. ↑ Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."
  3. ↑ Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."
  4. ↑ Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."
  5. ↑ Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."
  6. ↑ Robert Ainsworth and Thomas Morell, An Abridgement of the last Quarto Edition, (Charles Rivington, 1790) "[1]."
  7. ↑ Ainsworth and Morell, An Abridgement.
  8. ↑ Ainsworth and Morell, An Abridgement.
  9. ↑ Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."
  10. ↑ Robert Ainsworth, Thesaurus linguæ latinæ compendiarius: or, a compendious dictionary of the Latin tongue: designed for the use of the British nations: In three parts. ... By Robert Ainsworth. 3rd ed., printed by C. and J. Ackers, for W. Mount and T. Page, W. Innys, R. Ware, J. and P. Knapton [and 15 others in London], 1751.
  11. ↑ Ainsworth, Thesaurus linguæ latinæ compendiarius.
  12. ↑ Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."
  13. ↑ E. Millicent Sowerby, Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson (Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress, 1952-1959), 5:91 [no.4803]. Jefferson noted "Ainsworth's dict. Lat. Eng. abridged. 2.v. 8vo." in the 1815 catalogue of he books sold to the Library of Congress. Since he doesn't list Wythe's copy as a 2 volume set, Wythe's may have been one of the numerous single volume editions.
  14. ↑ Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433.
  15. ↑ LibraryThing, s.v. "Member: George Wythe," accessed on May 2, 2023.
Retrieved from "http://wythepedia.wm.edu/index.php?title=Ainsworth%27s_Dictionary&oldid=77552"