MIDDLE ENGLISH DICTIONARY.

April 23, 2004 by 2 Comments

Access to the electronic Middle English Dictionary is currently free on a trial basis.

The print MED, completed in 2001, has been described as “the greatest achievement in medieval scholarship in America.” Its 15,000 pages offer a comprehensive analysis of lexicon and usage for the period 1100-1500, based on the analysis of a collection of over three million citation slips, the largest collection of this kind available. This electronic version of the MED preserves all the details of the print MED, but goes far beyond this, by converting its contents into an enormous database, searchable in ways impossible within any print dictionary.

Grab it while you can! (Thanks, as so often, to aldiboronti at Wordorigins.)

Comments

  1. Charles Johnson says
    April 24, 2004 at 12:23 am

    Anyone that wants to brook this dictionary will need the folowing information (changes monthly):
    http://www.press.umich.edu/webhome/mec/individual.html

  2. languagehat says
    May 13, 2026 at 7:39 am

    The MED has been freely available for a long time now, but it’s losing support:

    In its 100-year history, MED has enjoyed periods of support, and periods when that support was lacking. It is about to enter on one of the latter. After this year, on current plans, the University of Michigan will no longer fund ongoing editorial work and maintenance. The MED as an online service (“digital collection” as we call it) will continue indefinitely; and I myself expect to continue to update the content as long as I am able, more or less as an unfunded hobby in retirement — not all that different from what I do now. So do not worry: MED is not going away any time soon.

    However, if some institution is interested in taking over a vital and well-tested resource, this is the time to make your interest known. In practical terms, this will presumably mean funding at least a half-time editorial position and undertaking to keep the MED free (with no paywall). In return you would receive such prestige as attaches to the MED name, the satisfaction of carrying on a valuable record of the language, and access to such behind-the-scenes assets as I have managed to accumulate, including my own 37 years of experience.

    — Paul Schaffner, editor. Always reachable at mec-info@umich.edu.

    I hope someone steps in to help.

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