Robert K. Barnhart (1933 – April 2007) was an American

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 editor of various specialized

dictionaries A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged Alphabetical order, alphabetically (or by Semitic root, consonantal root for Semitic languages or radical-and-stroke sorting, radical an ...

. He was co-editor, with his father

Clarence Barnhart Clarence Lewis Barnhart (1900–1993) was an American lexicographer best known for editing the ''Thorndike-Barnhart'' series of graded dictionaries, published by Scott Foresman & Co. which were based on word lists and concepts of definition deve ...

, on some editions of the '' Thorndike-Barnhart'' dictionaries and ''The

World Book Dictionary ''The World Book Dictionary'' is a two-volume English dictionary published as a supplement to the ''World Book Encyclopedia''. It was originally published in 1963 by Field Enterprises under the editorship of Clarence Barnhart, who wrote defin ...

''. With his father and Sol Steinmetz, he edited the three volumes of ''The Barnhart Dictionary of New English'' (1973, 1980, 1990). He also edited ''The Hammond Barnhart Dictionary of Science'' (1986), also published as ''The American Heritage Dictionary of Science'' (1988). Perhaps his major work is ''The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology'' (1988), which is marketed under the title ''Chambers Dictionary of Etymology'' in the United Kingdom. It is one of the most comprehensive volumes of its kind. He edited an abridgement, ''The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology'' (1995). His ''Barnhart Abbreviations Dictionary'' (1995) includes a reverse list of what the abbreviations stand for. Robert's brother David K. Barnhart is also a lexicographer.

Notes

1933 births 2007 deaths 20th-century American lexicographers {{US-linguist-stub