This is the first Old French-English dictionary of its kind to provide a comprehensive reference tool for a broad range of English-speaking users. In the form of a compendious but manageable single volume, it is designed for both the general and specialist reader of Old French texts including students, scholars, philologists and historians. The dictionary is based on a large and varied number of texts up to c.1350, starting from the 'classics' of medieval French literature and extending through all the genres: epic, romance, religious, moral, didactic and allegorical texts, lyric poetry, drama, humour and satire, as well as non-literary historical, political and legal documents. The aim has been to include a wide range of variant spellings as well as the main dialectal forms to help the anglophone user in particular. Detailed definitions and grammatical functions are provided, together with common phrases with their translations.

A history of English from the age of Beowulf to the rap of Eminem, “written with real authority, enthusiasm and love for our unruly and exquisite language” (The Washington Post). Many have written about the evolution of grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary, but only Seth Lerer situates these developments within the larger history of English, America, and literature. This edition of his “remarkable linguistic investigation” (Booklist) features a new chapter on the influence of biblical translation and an epilogue on the relationship of English speech to writing. A unique blend of historical and personal narrative, both “erudite and accessible” (The Globe and Mail), Inventing English is the surprising tale of a language that is as dynamic as the people to whom it belongs. “Lerer is not just a scholar; he's also a fan of English—his passion is evident on every page of this examination of how our language came to sound—and look—as it does and how words came to have their current meanings…the book percolates with creative energy and will please anyone intrigued by how our richly variegated language came to be.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)