A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue from the Twelfth Century to the End of the Seventeenth, Vol. 11

by A.J. Aitken (Editor)

The Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue defines and illustrates every meaning of every word used in written English in Scotland up to 1700, when the Scots language merged with standard English. It touches every facet of medieval and renaissance Scottish life and society and supplies a wealth of illustration in the form of quotations accompanying every word and meaning it discusses. It is an indispensable reference tool for historians of Scots language, literature, politics, law, medicine, agriculture, and all other aspects of Scottish society. This "Scots OED" is published in paper-bound parts (fascicles) and also as volumes, each containing several parts.

670 pages, Hardcover

First published April 8, 2004

About the author

Adam Jack Aitken was from 1948 assistant to Sir William A. Craigie in editing A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue. In 1957 he succeeded Craigie as editor.

From 1949 he lectured on Scots language to the English Language Department, University of Edinburgh, and for some years also in the English Language Department, University of Glasgow. In 1971 he became Senior Lecturer and later Reader in English Language, University of Edinburgh.

He has written numerous publications on lexicography and on Scots language and lectured in several European countries, the USA, Canada and India. As a pioneer in the application of computers to historical lexicography, he served as a consultant on several major historical dictionary projects. He was supervisory consultant on the Concise Scots Dictionary.