British Isles Online Primary Resources: Language Dictionaries

1100-1500 The Middle English Compendium (MEC), developed by the Humanities Text Initiative at the University of Michigan, provides access to and interconnectivity among three major Middle English electronic resources: an electronic version of the Middle English Dictionary (Main PE 679 .M54), a HyperBibliography of Middle English prose and verse, and a full-text corpus of Middle English prose and verse. This covers words and their usage in the English language from 1100-1500. In this database the text is searchable. The HyperBibliography of Middle English includes all the Middle English materials which are cited in the Middle English Dictionary. While not an exhaustive bibliography, it is the most comprehensive single list of these materials available. Titles have been adopted from Manual of the Writings in Middle English wherever possible, and are followed by the MED stencil (short-title) in brackets. The Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse currently contains 42 texts, but this will grow over time. It is fully searchable; texts may be searched in individually, in user-designated groups, or collectively.

1450- The Oxford English Dictionary is the accepted authority on the evolution of the English language over the last millennium. It is an unsurpassed guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of over half a million words, both present and past. It also offers the best in etymological analysis and in listing of variant spellings, and it shows pronunciation using the International Phonetic Alphabet. Paper copies are in Reference and Oversize (Basement Center) at PE 1625 .M7 1989 v. 1-20.