Dictionary of 1,000 years of words scoops prize

A dictionary spanning more than a thousand years compiled by Scottish academics has been awarded the prestigious Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher Education.

The prize, the highest accolade for any academic institution, was awarded to Glasgow University in recognition of its world-class research into the English language through the Historical Thesaurus.

Marc Alexander, professor of English linguistics at the university and the third director of the Historical Thesaurus of English after Professor Michael Samuels and Professor Christian Kay, said: “Hundreds of researchers at Glasgow have spent over fifty years scrutinising the English language of today and of our ancestors, and we are delighted the prize recognises this extraordinary effort.

“The result is that the gloriously messy and intricate evolution of English meanings over the last thousand years is laid out on every page of the Historical Thesaurus.

“Hundreds of researchers at Glasgow have spent over 50 years scrutinising the English language of today and of our ancestors, and we are delighted the prize recognises this extraordinary effort.

“The result is that the gloriously messy and intricate evolution of English meanings over the last thousand years is laid out on every page of the Historical Thesaurus.”

Scotland’s Rural College, based in Edinburgh, has also won a Queen’s Anniversary Prize, for research into breeding the healthiest dairy cow.