Greek-English Lexicon, Abridged

by Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott

This is the abridged version of 1909 edition, often called the "Little Liddell." Simon Wallenberg has enlarged the typeface for easier reading and except for this improvement the publishers have left the original work intact. A Greek-English Lexicon. is the standard lexicographical work of the Ancient Greek language. Based on the earlier Handworterbuch der griechischen Sprache by the German lexicographer Franz Passow it has served as the basis for all later lexicographical work on the ancient Greek language. No student of Classical Greek or indeed New Testament Greek could possibly be without this Lexicon. Although it is an abridgement of a larger work, it is by no means incomplete and in some respects is a better option than the larger editions. If you study the New Testament Koine Greek, or study Classical Greek, this book will be invaluable to you. The entries are succinct yet informative, and each entry will tell you how a word has been used in different periods of Greek literature. Therefore, if one word has been employed in different uses in Homeric literature, compared to the New Testament, this Lexicon will let you know. This edition of the Liddell and Scott is a comprehensive lexicon of the classical Greek and remains the best lexicon for the New Testament, as the definitions offered in the Little Liddell are so precise you will rarely find them to be wrong. It was edited by Henry George Liddell and Robert Scott, It is now conventionally referred to as Liddell & Scott. The first editor of the LSJ, Henry George Liddell, was Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, and the father of Alice Liddell, the eponymous Alice of the writings of Lewis Carroll.

Genres: Reference, Language, Academic, Nonfiction

812 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1881

About the author

Henry George Liddell was dean (1855–91) of Christ Church, Oxford, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University (1870–74), headmaster (1846–55) of Westminster School[3] (where a house is now named after him), author of "A History of Rome" (1855), and co-author (with Robert Scott) of the monumental work "A Greek–English Lexicon", known as "Liddell and Scott", which is still widely used by students of Greek.

Lewis Carroll wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland for Henry Liddell's daughter Alice.
[Wikipedia]

Reviews

[max · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the not so little "little Liddell." I have long known about the famous "Little Liddell," but only just discovered that this amazing dictionary has been reprinted in larger type. Although it says that it is a reprint of the 1909 Little Liddell, that dictionary actually goes back to 1871. It is the absolute sine qua non of anyone who wishes to read ancient Greek authors. You are helpless without it.

The most useful feature of this lexicon is that it lists in separate entries all of the forms of irregular Greek verbs. So, e.g., if you need to look up a second aorist form such as heilon, you will find it where you expect to, and will be informed that it is derived from haireo. Or say you need to look up opsomai; again, if will be where you want it to be and you will find that it is the future of horao. Apart from verbs, many other odd and irregular forms (and there are notoriously many of them in the Greek language) are separately listed and defined as well. This makes it an extremely handy tool.

As for definitions, they are incredibly clear and precise; for a lexicon that is well over a century old, they read as if they were written yesterday.

Get one for each room in your house, so that you never have to be too far away from it.

[Randal Samstag · Rating 4 out of 5]

The classic Greek-English Lexicon.