cawdrey

Robert Cawdrey was an English lexicographer active in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, best known for compiling A Table Alphabeticall. Published in 1604 in London, the work is widely regarded as the first monolingual English dictionary, arranged to explain difficult English words in English rather than through foreign terms.

Very little is known about Cawdrey’s life beyond the dictionary. Historical records offer scant details on his birth, education, or death, and the surviving material centers on the book itself. He is often described as a cleric or schoolmaster, but definitive biographical information is limited.

A Table Alphabeticall is a compact volume that lists roughly 2,500 headwords in alphabetical order, each paired with a brief English definition. The dictionary was intended to help readers understand terms encountered in sermons, scholarly and religious writings, and other texts, especially words borrowed from Latin, French, and Greek. The preface presents its aim as aiding “all women and men” in grasping the true meanings of English words, reflecting the period’s concerns about literacy and comprehension.

Impact and legacy: Cawdrey’s dictionary is regarded as a foundational moment in English lexicography. It established a model for presenting vocabulary with English definitions and helped inspire later works, such as Henry Cockeram’s The English Dictionary (1623) and, centuries later, Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary. Surviving copies are held in major libraries, and the work is studied as a landmark in the history of the English language.