Stephen Skinner (lexicographer)

Last updated

Stephen Skinner (1623–1667) was an English Lincoln physician, lexicographer and etymologist.

Contents

Life

He was the son of John Skinner of London. He matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford, on 6 December 1639; but when the First English Civil War broke out, he left England. [1]

Christ Church, Oxford constituent college of the University of Oxford in England

Christ Church is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Christ Church is a joint foundation of the college and the Cathedral of the Oxford diocese, which serves as the college chapel and whose dean is ex officio the college head.

First English Civil War Civil war in England 1642–1646

The First English Civil War (1642–1646) began the series of three wars known as the English Civil War. "The English Civil War" was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations that took place between Parliamentarians and Royalists from 1642 until 1651, and includes the Second English Civil War (1648–1649) and the Third English Civil War (1649–1651). The wars in England were part of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, being fought contemporaneously with equivalents in Scotland and Ireland. Many castles and high-status homes such as Lathom House were slighted during or after the conflict.

In 1646 Skinner was again at Oxford, and in consideration of his foreign service he was allowed to accumulate both his arts degrees in that same year, graduating B.A. on 21 October and M.A. on 10 November. On 22 April 1649 he entered as a medical student at Leiden University, on 6 May 1653 at the University of Heidelberg, and on 4 November 1653 was again at Leyden. At the beginning of 1654 he graduated M.D. at Heidelberg, and on 26 May of that year was incorporated in the same degree at Oxford. [1]

Leiden University university in the Netherlands

Leiden University, founded in the city of Leiden, is the oldest university in the Netherlands. The university was founded in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, leader of the Dutch Revolt in the Eighty Years' War. The Dutch Royal Family and Leiden University have a close association: Queen Juliana, Queen Beatrix and King Willem-Alexander are former students. The university came into particular prominence during the Dutch Golden Age, when scholars from around Europe were attracted to the Dutch Republic due to its climate of intellectual tolerance and Leiden's international reputation. During this time Leiden was home to such figures as René Descartes, Rembrandt, Christiaan Huygens, Hugo Grotius, Baruch Spinoza and Baron d'Holbach.

Skinner was made honorary fellow of the London College of Physicians in December 1664. He practised in Lincoln where he died of malignant fever on 5 September 1667. Administration of his estate was granted to his sister, Elizabeth Bowyer, and his daughter Stephanie Skinner, on 7 September 1667. [1]

Royal College of Physicians professional body of doctors of general medicine and its subspecialties in the UK

The Royal College of Physicians is a British professional body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded in 1518, it set the first international standard in the classification of diseases, and its library contains medical texts of great historical interest.

Works

Skinner left behind him some philological treatises in manuscript, and they were edited by Thomas Henshaw and published in London in 1671, under the title of Etymologicon Linguæ Anglicanæ. [1] [2] This work was the first important etymological dictionary of English. Appearing three years before John Ray's glossary of English dialects, Skinner's dictionary presents a number of dialectal expressions of his native Lincolnshire.

Thomas Henshaw (1618–1700) was an English lawyer, courtier, diplomat and scientific writer. While not a published alchemist, he was a significant figure in English alchemical work from the 1650s onwards; he is known to have used the pen-name "Halophilus".

An etymological dictionary discusses the etymology of the words listed. Often, large dictionaries, such as the Oxford English Dictionary and Webster's, will contain some etymological information, without aspiring to focus on etymology.

John Ray British botanist (1627–1705)

John Ray FRS was an English naturalist widely regarded as one of the earliest of the English parson-naturalists. Until 1670, he wrote his name as John Wray. From then on, he used 'Ray', after "having ascertained that such had been the practice of his family before him".

Samuel Johnson acknowledged his indebtedness to Skinner in the preface to his Dictionary (1755). [1]

Samuel Johnson English poet, biographer, essayist, and lexicographer

Samuel Johnson, often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. He was a devout Anglican and a generous philanthropist. Politically, he was a committed Tory. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography describes Johnson as "arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history". He is the subject of James Boswell's The Life of Samuel Johnson, described by Walter Jackson Bate as "the most famous single work of biographical art in the whole of literature".

Related Research Articles

Thomas Smith (bishop of Carlisle) English clergyman, who served as Dean and Bishop of Carlisle

Thomas Smith (1615–1702) was an English clergyman, who served as Dean of Carlisle, 1672–1684, and Bishop of Carlisle, 1684–1702. He graduated MA from The Queen's College, Oxford in 1639 and served as chaplain to King Charles II.

John Heydon (astrologer) British philosopher

John Heydon was an English Neoplatonist occult philosopher, Rosicrucian, astrologer and attorney.

William Guy British statistician

William Augustus Guy was a British physician and medical statistician.

Erasmus Earle was an English lawyer and politician, who became sergeant-at-law to Oliver Cromwell.

Gazophylacium Anglicanum is a dictionary of the English language first published anonymously in London in 1689. Current scholarship attributes this work to Richard Hogarth and identifies it as a translation of Stephen Skinner's Etymologicon Linguae Anglicanae of 1671. The Gazophylacium Anglicanum was reprinted in 1691 as A New English Dictionary.

Theodore Goulston M.D. (1572–1632) was an English physician, scholar, and founder of the Goulstonian Lectures.

John Micklethwaite physician

Sir John Micklethwaite M.D. (1612–1682) was an English physician, who attended Charles II. He was President of the Royal College of Physicians.

Thomas Greaves (1612–1676) was an English orientalist, a contributor to the London Polyglot of Brian Walton.

Robert Mapletoft was an English churchman and academic, Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge and Dean of Ely.

Henry Clerke was an English academic and physician, President of Magdalen College, Oxford, from 1672.

Gilbert Ironside the younger English churchman and academic, Warden of Wadham College, Oxford and bishop

Gilbert Ironside the younger was an English churchman and academic, Warden of Wadham College, Oxford from 1667, Bishop of Bristol and Bishop of Hereford.

Thomas Alvey M.D. was an English physician.

Sir Edward Greaves, 1st Baronet, was an English physician.

William Robertson was a Scottish Hebraist. He was educated at Edinburgh University, taught Hebrew in London from 1653–1680, then in 1680 was appointed lecturer in Hebrew at Cambridge University.

Christopher Terne M.D. (1620–1673) was an English physician.

Henry Foulis (1638–1669) was an English academic theologian and controversial author.

Francis Drope (1629?–1671), was an English arboriculturist.

James Drake (physician) British doctor

James Drake (1667–1707) was an English physician and political writer, a Jacobite and Fellow of the Royal Society.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Wikisource-logo.svg "Skinner, Stephen". Dictionary of National Biography . London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
  2. ↑ 1671 Etymologicon Linguae Anglicanae: Seu Explicatio Vocum Anglicarum Etymologica Ex Proprils Fontibus Scil. Ex Linguis Duodecim.
Attribution

Wikisource-logo.svg  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : "Skinner, Stephen". Dictionary of National Biography . London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. 

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.