Elisha Coles (c. 1640 – 1680) was a
17th-century English
lexicographer
Lexicography is the study of lexicons and the art of compiling dictionaries. It is divided into two separate academic disciplines:
* Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionary, dictionaries.
* The ...
and
stenographer.
Life
He was son of John Coles, schoolmaster of
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...
, and nephew of
Elisha Coles the religious author. He became chorister of
Magdalen College,
Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
, 1658–61; teacher of Latin and English in London, 1663; usher of
Merchant Taylors' School, 1677; first headmaster of
Erasmus Smith's school in
Galway
Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...
, 1678.
He published devotional verses, 1671, a treatise on shorthand, 1674, primers of English and Latin, 1674-5, an English dictionary, 1676, and a Latin dictionary, 1677.
The shorthand used by
Thomas Bayes
Thomas Bayes ( , ; 7 April 1761) was an English statistician, philosopher and Presbyterian minister who is known for formulating a specific case of the theorem that bears his name: Bayes' theorem.
Bayes never published what would become his m ...
has been identified as that of
Thomas Shelton, as modified by Coles.
His 1676 ''Dictionary'' contains
:"many words and phrases that belong to our
English Dialects in our several Counties, and where the particular Shire is not exprest, the distinction (according to the use) is more general into North and South-Country words."
Coles' dialectal entries are mostly collected from the glossary by
John Ray with some additions from the ''Dictionarium Rusticum'' in
John Worlidge's 1669 ''Systema Agriculturae''.
Works
*
Christologia, Or, A Metrical Paraphrase on the History of Our Lord' (1671) was perhaps by this Elisha Coles, or the son of the same name of his uncle Elisha.
*''The Compleat English Schoolmaster'' (1674)
*''Nolens Volens, Or, You Shall Make Latin Whether You Will Or No''
*''A Dictionary, English-Latin and Latin English''
*''An English Dictionary: Explaining the Difficult Terms that are used in Divinity, Husbandry, Physick, Phylosophy, Law, Navigation, Mathematicks, and Other Arts and Sciences'' (1676)
*''Syncrisis, Or, The Most Natural and Easie Method of Learning Latin'' (1677)
*''Of Perseverance''
References
External links
*http://faculty.ed.uiuc.edu/westbury/paradigm/Burness.html
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coles, Elisha
English lexicographers
1600s births
1688 deaths