Glossographia: or, A Dictionary Interpreting All Such Hard Words…As Are Now Used in Our Refined English Tongue

Thomas Blount's Glossographia (1656) was a significant English dictionary that interpreted "hard words" used in the English language. It was notable for collecting words from Blount's own reading and citing their sources, a step forward in lexicographical methods. This work was later appropriated by Edward Phillips for his The New World of English Words. The term "glossographer" itself refers to a compiler of glosses, or explanations of difficult words, originating from Greek roots meaning "tongue" or "language" and "to write". Dictionaries, in general, have a long history, with early examples found in Mesopotamia and a Western tradition beginning with the Greeks.123