Medieval Latin dictionary completed after 100 years

• BBC News
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  Dr Richard Ashdowne is the dictionary's current editor

The final part of an epic dictionary of medieval Latin is to be published this week, bringing to a close a project initiated 100 years ago.

The Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources has more than 58,000 entries and currently spans 15 volumes, the first of which came out in 1975.
The 16th and final volume was published by the British Academy on 11 December.
Academy president Lord Stern called it "the most comprehensive study ever" of medieval Latin vocabulary.
He said it had "enabled us to discover more about the English language and shown us that Britain has indeed been at the heart of humanities and social science since the 6th Century".

According to the British Academy, Latin was used by scientists, diplomats, philosophers and lawyers for more than 1,000 years after the end of the Roman empire.

The dictionary details the Latin language used in Britain between 540 AD and the year 1600, drawing its contents from the Domesday Book, the Magna Carta and thousands of other documents.
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