Dictionary of Old English [DOE]

FAIN: PW-50048-08

University of Toronto (Toronto M5S 1A5 Canada)
Antonette diPaolo Healey (Project Director: July 2007 to September 2010)

The preparation of entries for the "Dictionary of Old English," a historical dictionary based on the entire extant corpus of Old English texts written between A.D. 650 and 1150.

The aim of the Dictionary of Old English (DOE) is to define the vocabulary of records written in English between 600 and 1150 C.E., using the technology of the twenty-first century. Because of its Electronic Corpus, comprising at least one copy of every Old English text, the DOE is based on a comprehensive examination of the surviving evidence. The DOE complements the other major historical dictionaries of English: the Middle English Dictionary (1100-1500 C.E.), and the Oxford English Dictionary, (which catalogues English up to the present). In 2003 the DOE made a significant technological advance by publishing DOE: A to F on CD-ROM, the first electronic version of the first seven letters (out of 22). In Fall 2007, the project will release DOE: A to G online, the first Web version of the first eight letters. An innovative feature is the link to the OED, providing a mechanism for dictionary cross-searching.