By the Numbers
Authorities
Temporal Breakdown of Authorities by Death Date
Key: 1755 Dict. #, 1773 Dict. # (if any) in word list; total including authorities in prefatory material but not also in word list.
(Death dates)
850 BCE through 104 CE Classical Authorities: 9 word list; 10 total
104 to 1481 After Classics before Littleton = 20 word list; 26 total
1481 to 1568 Littleton to before Ascham = 13 word list; 20 total
1568 to 1626 Ascham to before Bacon = 31, 3 word list; 40 total
1626-1649 Bacon to before Charles I = 30, 7 word list; 40 total
1649-1674 Charles I to before Milton = 39, 4 word list; 43 total
1674-1700 Milton to before Dryden = 52, 6 word list; 59 total
1700-1719 Dryden to before Addison = 49, 6 word list; 58 total
1719-1745 Addison to before Swift = 84, 9 word list; 96 total
1745-1765 Swift to before Young = 44, 8 word list; 52 total
1765-1784 Young to before Johnson = 14, 9 word list; 24 total
1784-1807 Johnson through Gifford = 10, 6 word list; 17 total
Undated Authorities (1755 word list) = 11
Undated Authorities (1773 word list) = 1
Undated Authority in Abstracted Ed. = 1
850 BCE-1807 Authorities in 1755 word list = 395 + 11 = 406;
Authorities added in 1773 word list = 58 + 1 = 59
Authorities in Preface, History, Grammar not in word list = 33
Total Authorities, including authorities in Preface, History, Grammar not in word list = 498
Definitions (1755 Dict. statistics)
Authorities
- Authorities identified to date in word list in 1st (including Abstracted) and 4th editions = about 468.
- Authors referenced by work title are included on the author page (e.g., Shakespeare, Pope)
- Books of the Bible are collected in one entry
- Entry is for the name and spelling (with variants) as they appear in the dictionary
- 1st edition total word list authorities = about 406. (Freed 1939 dissertation total = 346; most of Freed's focus on Vol.1)
- Authorities added to word list in 4th ed. = about 59
- Additional authorities (not also in word list) in prefatory material = 33 (one of these added in 4th ed.)
- Total authorities = about 498
Temporal Breakdown of Authorities by Death Date
Key: 1755 Dict. #, 1773 Dict. # (if any) in word list; total including authorities in prefatory material but not also in word list.
(Death dates)
850 BCE through 104 CE Classical Authorities: 9 word list; 10 total
104 to 1481 After Classics before Littleton = 20 word list; 26 total
1481 to 1568 Littleton to before Ascham = 13 word list; 20 total
1568 to 1626 Ascham to before Bacon = 31, 3 word list; 40 total
1626-1649 Bacon to before Charles I = 30, 7 word list; 40 total
1649-1674 Charles I to before Milton = 39, 4 word list; 43 total
1674-1700 Milton to before Dryden = 52, 6 word list; 59 total
1700-1719 Dryden to before Addison = 49, 6 word list; 58 total
1719-1745 Addison to before Swift = 84, 9 word list; 96 total
1745-1765 Swift to before Young = 44, 8 word list; 52 total
1765-1784 Young to before Johnson = 14, 9 word list; 24 total
1784-1807 Johnson through Gifford = 10, 6 word list; 17 total
Undated Authorities (1755 word list) = 11
Undated Authorities (1773 word list) = 1
Undated Authority in Abstracted Ed. = 1
850 BCE-1807 Authorities in 1755 word list = 395 + 11 = 406;
Authorities added in 1773 word list = 58 + 1 = 59
Authorities in Preface, History, Grammar not in word list = 33
Total Authorities, including authorities in Preface, History, Grammar not in word list = 498
Definitions (1755 Dict. statistics)
- About 40,000 word list entries
- About 25,000 additional senses are defined for a total of about 65,000 definitions supplied by SJ
- About 28,000 of the 40,000 head words are not subdivided into multiple senses
- About 12,000 words with two or more sense definitions
- About 5,000 words with three or more sense definitions
- About 3,000 words with four or more sense definitions
- About 2,000 words with four or more sense definitions
- Reducing to about 80 words with 19 or more sense definitions
- The following 25 words have 30 or more sense definitions in the 1755 Dict.: as (30), bear (38), break (38), carry (32), cast (44), come (56), draw (52), for (42), from (42), give (35), go (68), good (35), hand (48), head (31), hold (31), keep (40), lay (58), make (59), put (66), run (53), set (66), take (113), turn (45), upon (30).