Promptorium parvulorum
Oldest English-to-Latin dictionary
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The Promptorium parvulorum (Latin: "Storehouse for children") is an English-Latin bilingual dictionary completed around 1440. It was the first English-to-Latin dictionary.[1] It occupies about 300 printed book pages.[2]
| Author | Attributed to Geoffrey the Grammarian |
|---|---|
| Language | Latin, Middle English |
| Subject | Bilingual dictionary |
| Publication place | England |
The authorship is attributed to Geoffrey the Grammarian, a friar who lived in Lynn, Norfolk, England.[3] After the invention of the printing press, the Promptorium was repeatedly published in the early 16th century by the printer Wynkyn de Worde.[3] In the 19th century, the Camden Society republished it under the extended title Promptorium parvulorum sive clericorum (“Storehouse for children or clerics”).[1]
For language historians it is a major reference work for the vocabulary of late medieval English. It is also a frequently cited source in the Middle English Dictionary, the primary dictionary of late medieval English, published by the University of Michigan.
See also
- Catholicon Anglicum, an English-to-Latin dictionary dated 1485
