LiddellScotts

Liddell, Scott and Jones, commonly cited as LSJ, is a comprehensive Greek–English lexicon that documents the vocabulary of Classical and Hellenistic Greek. It provides English definitions, semantic ranges, forms, and usage notes, together with illustrative citations from ancient authors to show how each word was employed in context. The work remains a foundational reference for students and scholars of ancient Greek philology, literature, and textual criticism.

The dictionary originated with the Greek–English Lexicon published in 1843 by Henry George Liddell and Robert Henry Scott. It established a broad coverage of Greek terms and their sense relations, drawing on a wide range of classical authors. Over the years, the text was revised and expanded through additional editions. The most influential modern edition is the ninth edition, published in 1940, which incorporated substantial revision by Henry Stuart Jones and others. The LSJ name reflects the principal editors associated with this enduring scholarly project: Liddell, Scott, and Jones, with Oxford University Press as the standard publisher.

Content and structure emphasize headwords in Greek, followed by English glosses, grammatical information, and usage notes. Entries often include semantic sub-entries, derivatives, and cross-references, along with corpus citations to illustrate nuances of meaning and historical development. While centered on Classical Greek, the lexicon also covers later periods insofar as they illuminate meanings attested in earlier texts.

Today, LSJ remains widely used in classical studies, often alongside more modern lexicons. It is available in print and has been digitized for online research, notably on the Perseus Digital Library, making it accessible to students and researchers worldwide.