Thomas Blount

author

Thomas Blount

1618–1679

An English antiquarian and lexicographer, he is best remembered for making difficult words more accessible to readers of his time. His work helped shape early English dictionary-making and opened a window onto the language, law, and learning of the 17th century.

1 Audiobook

Boscobel Or, The History of his Sacred Majesties most Miraculous Preservation After the Battle of Worcester, 3. Sept. 1651

Boscobel Or, The History of his Sacred Majesties most Miraculous Preservation After the Battle of Worcester, 3. Sept. 1651

by Thomas Blount

About the author

Born in 1618, this English writer came from a Roman Catholic family and was educated in law at the Inner Temple. Although he was called to the bar, his religion appears to have limited his legal career, and he became better known for his writing and scholarship instead.

He is most famous for Glossographia, a landmark dictionary of “hard words” first published in the 1650s. He also wrote on legal terms and antiquarian subjects, including Nomo-Lexikon and Ancient Tenures of Land. His books show a lively interest in how words, customs, and old records could explain the world around him.

Thomas Blount died in 1679. Today he is remembered as an important early lexicographer whose work sits at the crossroads of language, history, and the law.