James Augustus Henry Murray
- proper noun
- James Augustus Henry Murray dedicated decades of his life to compiling the Oxford English Dictionary.
Examples
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The editorial methods of James Augustus Henry Murray greatly influenced modern lexicography.
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The renowned lexicographer James Augustus Henry Murray was born in 1837.
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The legacy of James Augustus Henry Murray is celebrated by linguists worldwide.
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Did James Augustus Henry Murray really create the first Oxford English Dictionary?
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James Augustus Henry Murray dedicated decades of his life to compiling the Oxford English Dictionary.
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The editorial methods of James Augustus Henry Murray greatly influenced modern lexicography.
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The legacy of James Augustus Henry Murray is celebrated by linguists worldwide.
Synonyms
1
7.3
A Scottish scholar who led the work to make the Oxford English Dictionary
A Scottish language expert who is best known as the main editor of the first Oxford English Dictionary
A Scottish scholar who led the team that made the first Oxford English Dictionary
Surface Forms
Morphology
James + Augustus + Henry + Murray
This is a full personal name referring to a specific historical individual; knowing the constituent given names and surname does not allow a learner to infer the biographical meaning (Scottish philologist and OED editor). Proper names are referential and non-compositional, so the meaning is not derivable from the parts and is opaque to learners.
Etymology
James Augustus Henry Murray was a Scottish word expert who spent many years collecting tiny paper slips with example sentences and putting them together to build the first 'Oxford English Dictionary'. Imagine him surrounded by boxes of slips and a growing book, so his name is remembered as the 'main editor' who shaped that famous work.