Sir James Augustus Henry Murray
- proper noun
- Sir James Augustus Henry Murray led the team that compiled the original Oxford English Dictionary.
Examples
-
Sir James Augustus Henry Murray was the primary editor of the Oxford English Dictionary for many years.
-
Few people realize the lasting impact Sir James Augustus Henry Murray had on English lexicography.
-
The achievements of Sir James Augustus Henry Murray are celebrated by linguists worldwide.
-
I admire Sir James Augustus Henry Murray for his contributions to linguistics.
-
Did Sir James Augustus Henry Murray really edit the Oxford English Dictionary?
-
Many scholars attribute the success of the Oxford English Dictionary to Sir James Augustus Henry Murray and his team.
-
In the field of lexicography, Sir James Augustus Henry Murray is considered a pioneering figure.
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 language scholar who is the chief editor of the first Oxford English Dictionary
Surface Forms
Morphology
Sir + James + Augustus + Henry + Murray
This string is a full personal name: knowing the constituents tells a learner that it refers to a person and that 'Sir' is an honorific, so some basic information is immediately available. However, the specific biographical meaning (that he was a Scottish philologist and primary editor of the OED) cannot be deduced from the given names alone, so the expression is only partially transparent to learners.
Etymology
Sir James Augustus Henry Murray was a Scottish word expert who led the long project to make the first 'Oxford English Dictionary'. He collected millions of paper slips with real example sentences and read them to decide each entry, so his name is still linked to how we record and explain English words.