Editing Table Alphabeticall (section)

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{{short description|1604 English dictionary by Robert Cawdrey}}
[[File:Table Alphabeticall title page.jpg|thumb|The title page of the third edition of ''Table Alphabeticall''.]]
'''''A Table Alphabeticall''''' is the abbreviated title of the first monolingual [[dictionary]] in the [[English language]], created by [[Robert Cawdrey]] and first published in [[London]] in 1604.

Although the work is important in being the first collection of its kind, it is not a large work. At only 120 pages, it listed a total of 2,543 words accompanied by very brief (often single-word) definitions. In most cases, it was little more than a list of [[synonym]]s. The words chosen by Cawdrey might seem arbitrary and obscure, yet the purpose was for understanding uncommon words which were circulating due to the advent of the printing press, and the English language [[Bible]].

The dictionary's claimed purpose was "for the benefit and help of unskillful persons". Within a few decades, many other English dictionaries followed.