Somewhat reluctantly I respond to this heady dialogue on dictionaries, one reservation being the need to spell everything correctly. My Britannica, gives credit to a Dominican friar known as Galfridus Grammaticus in this Promptorium Parvulorum completed c. 1440 and used in the study of Latin. He listed about 12,000 English words. What is known as the first real English dictionary, printed in 1552, was produced by Richard Huloet, again used in the study of Latin at Cambridge. This Abcedarium of 26,000 words was very expensive. A Yorkshire schoolmaster and physician Peter Levins recognizing expensive as a hindrance, published a smaller works in 1570 called Manipulus Vocabulorum. In writing of Huloet's effort he stated "His is for greater students, and them that are richable to have it: this is for beginners and them that are poorable to have no better." A steady evolution of references followed these early works. So, much to my surprise dictionaries apparently existed long prior to those we consider comprehensive works. Be assured this will not be the last word. Robert