[originaltext] The first English dictionary was published in 1604. The dicti

The first English dictionary was published in 1604. The dictionary was a list of about 3,000 difficult words, each followed by a one-word definition. The author, Robert Cawdrey, did not include everyday words in his dictionary.  He believed that no one would look up a word in a dictionary if he already knew the meaning of the word.
    During the 1600s, more dictionaries were published. Each followed Cawdrey’ s lead and presented a few thousand difficult words. Around 1,700, one dictionary maker, John Kersey, did define easy words as well as difficult ones. But until the1750s, ail dictionaries were not very valuable.
    A man called Dr. Samuel Johnson changed all this. In 1755 Dr. Johnson produced the first modem dictionary. He included in his dictionary all important words, both easy and hard, and he gave good meanings.  He also gave good example sentences in speech and writing.  By the end of the 1700s most dictionary makers had followed Johnson’ s lead. Dictionaries were getting better and better.
    The 1800s saw the greatest improvement in the quality of dictionaries. In England scholars planned and prepared the Oxford English Dictionary, a twenty-volume work. One of the most interesting features of the Oxford Dictionary is its word histories. It traces the history of each word from its earliest recorded use up to the time of the printing of the dictionary.