oxford dictionary for national biography

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is the national record of over 60,000 men and women who shaped the history of the British Isles and of Britons worldwide, from the ‘earliest times’ to the 21st century.   

The ODNB is the world’s largest collaborative research project in the humanities, providing concise, up-to-date biographies written by 13,000 specialists from 52 countries. In addition to its more than 60,000 biographies, the Dictionary includes more than 500 thematic essays (setting individuals in historical context), and 11,500 portrait likenesses, researched in association with the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Website:  http://www.oxforddnb.com/

• Research Aims

The ODNB was first published in 2004, in 60 print volumes and online. Since 2004 a continuation project has extended and developed the ODNB’s online edition.

Updates are published monthly. Our January update is composed of biographies of people who have died in the very recent past (all people in the ODNB are deceased). Our other monthly updates are gathered around themes of related lives and also extend the Dictionary’s coverage across earlier periods in the light of recent scholarship and publications. Updates also revise existing biographies in response to new research. Since 2004 we have added around 5000 biographies and thematic essays.

Dictionary editors also run a programme of public engagement with other national institutions (museums, galleries, the National Trust, English Heritage, and national biographies worldwide), as well as with British public libraries and university research projects in the UK and the United States. The Dictionary's popular podcast series is available on itunes and via our website.

The Oxford DNB is a research and publishing project of the Oxford History Faculty and Oxford University Press. The work of commissioning, editing, writing, updating, and promoting the Dictionary is undertaken by a small team of Oxford historians: Mark Curthoys, Alex May, and Anders Ingram.

The ODNB’s general editor (from October 2014) is Sir David Cannadine who, in his capacity as editor, is also a Visiting Professor in the Oxford History Faculty.

The ODNB have recorded over 250 life stories from the  Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford DNB) –  Boudicca  to  Bobby Moore ,  Mrs Simpson  to  Mills & Boon .

You can download an individual life or subscribe to their fortnightly biography podcast,  released on iTunes as ‘Oxford Biographies’ . Each episode lasts between 10 and 30 minutes.

Elizabeth Parsons, the Cock Lane Ghost (1749–1807), imposter

Sylvia Pankhurst (1882-1960), suffragette

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (1848-54), artists

Odo of Bayeux (d. 1097), commissioner of the Bayeux Tapestry

Jack Sheppard (1702-1724), thief and prison-breaker

Alice Liddell (1852-1934), the real-life in Alice in Wonderland

Eric Hobsbawm (1917-2012), historian and political writer

Margaret Roper (1505-1544), scholar and daughter of Thomas More

The Online Books Page

Dictionary of national biography, edited by leslie stephen and sidney lee, first edition.

Google Books has various page image formats for all of the volumes, as does the Internet Archive. (The Google Books editions might not be readable in full outside the United States.) We give links to the first edition volumes below.

Supplementary volumes for the first edition

Second edition.

Google Books has various page image formats for the original second edition volumes. The Google Books editions might not be readable in full outside the United States. The Internet Archive also has some of the second edition volumes online, without country restrictions. We give links to available second edition volumes below.

Supplementary volumes for the second edition

This is a "meta-book", which stitches together separate files elsewhere on the Web as they appeared in a previously published book. It is subject to removal if someone produces an integrated edition. If that happens, The Online Books Page will point to the integrated version.

Dictionary of National Biography

The Dictionary of National Biography (DNB) is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885. The updated Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB) was published on 23 September 2004 in 60 volumes and online.

• Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900 , the original 63 volumes, published between 1885 and 1900. These biographies use the suffix DNB00.
• Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement , first supplement of 3 volumes, published 1901; outlined in a prefatory note . These articles use the suffix DNB01. With Queen Victoria's death, 22 January 1901, this era came to a close.
• Dictionary of National Biography, Index and Epitome , published 1903 as one volume, provided condensed versions of all previous DNB biographies.
• Dictionary of National Biography, Errata , published 1904 in a single volume. These corrections are being incorporated into applicable DNB00 and DNB01 articles.
• Dictionary of National Biography re-issued nearly every article from the 66 volumes contained in the original and first supplement. This reissue, contained in 22 volumes, occurred between 1908 and 1909, and incorporated the 1904 Errata.
• Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement , published 1912 in three volumes, includes articles from those who died between 1901 and 1911. These articles use the suffix DNB12.
• Dictionary of National Biography, 1927 supplement , published 1927 in one volume, includes articles from those who died between 1912 and 1921.

The 1912 Index was the last version of the DNB from the original publishers, Smith, Elder & Co. Subsequent versions were published by Oxford University Press.

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George Smith (1824—1901) publisher, businessman, and founder of the Dictionary of National Biography

Leslie Stephen (1832—1904) author, literary critic, and first editor of the Dictionary of National Biography

Sir Sidney Lee (1859—1926) second editor of the Dictionary of National Biography and literary scholar

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Dictionary of National Biography

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The brainchild of the publisher George Smith. The work began in 1882 with Sir Leslie Stephen as editor and the last volume appeared in 1900. Supplements and updates have followed and Oxford University Press's new edition appeared in 2004.

From:   Dictionary of National Biography   in  A Dictionary of British History »

Subjects: Literature

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Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

Principal Investigator / Director:  Philip Carter

Oxford participants:  Philip Carter

Other Participants:  not specified

Project Webpage:  http://www.oxforddnb.com/

Start Date:  September 2004

End Date:  not specified

Funder:  not specified

Partner organizations (inside or outside Oxford):  not specified

Project Description:

The  Oxford Dictionary of National Biography  ( www.oxforddnb.com/ )   is the national record of 60,000 men and women who shaped the history of the British Isles and of Britons worldwide, from the Roman occupation to the 21 st  century.    

The ODNB is the world’s largest collaborative research project in the humanities, providing concise, up-to-date biographies written by 14,000 specialists overseen by a small team of academic editors at Oxford's History Faculty. In addition to 60,000 biographies, the Dictionary includes more than 500 thematic essays (setting individuals in historical context), and 11,500 portrait likenesses, researched in association with the National Portrait Gallery, London.

The ODNB was first published in 2004, in 60 print volumes and online. Regular updates have since have added a further 5000 biographies and thematic essays. Roughly half of these new biographies are of people from the very recent past who died (all people in the ODNB are deceased) in the 21 st  century. Other biographies extend the Dictionary’s coverage across earlier periods in the light of recent scholarship and publications. Updates also revise existing biographies in response to new research.

Dictionary editors also run a programme of public engagement and data linking with other national institutions (museums, galleries, the National Trust, and national biographies worldwide), as well as with research libraries and university research projects in the UK and the United States.

Other projects the participants have been involved in:

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Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 1st Edition

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• ISBN-10 0198614136
• ISBN-13 978-0198614135
• Edition 1st
• Publisher Oxford University Press
• Publication date December 3, 2007
• Language English
• Dimensions 1.2 x 10 x 7.8 inches
• Print length 480 pages
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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; 1st edition (December 3, 2007)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 480 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0198614136
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0198614135
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.29 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 1.2 x 10 x 7.8 inches

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Alpine adjective & noun

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What does the word Alpine mean?

There are 13 meanings listed in OED's entry for the word Alpine . See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

Alpine has developed meanings and uses in subjects including

How common is the word Alpine ?

How is the word alpine pronounced, british english, u.s. english, where does the word alpine come from.

Earliest known use

Middle English

The earliest known use of the word Alpine is in the Middle English period (1150—1500).

OED's earliest evidence for Alpine is from before 1475, in R. Higden's Polychronicon .

Alpine is of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin.

Etymons: French alpin ; Latin Alpīnus .

Nearby entries

• alphitomorphous, adj. 1879
• alphonsine, n. 1688–
• Alphonso, n. 1800–
• alphorn, n. 1814–
• alphos, n. a1576–
• alphyl, n. 1895–
• Alpian, adj. 1607–
• Alpic, adj. 1611–
• alpieu, n. 1688–1747
• Alpigene, adj. 1847–
• Alpine, adj. & n. ?a1475–
• Alpine anemone, n. 1774–
• Alpine club, n. 1859–
• Alpine fir, n. 1819–
• alpine glacier, n. 1792–
• Alpine hat, n. 1832–
• Alpine marmot, n. 1771–
• alpine meadow, n. 1795–
• Alpine mouse, n. 1607–
• Alpine rose, n. 1728–
• Alpine speedwell, n. 1771–

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Meaning & use

Pronunciation, compounds & derived words, entry history for alpine, adj. & n..

Alpine, adj. & n. was revised in September 2012.

Alpine, adj. & n. was last modified in March 2024.

oed.com is a living text, updated every three months. Modifications may include:

• further revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
• new senses, phrases, and quotations.

Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into Alpine, adj. & n. in March 2024.

Earlier versions of this entry were published in:

OED First Edition (1884)

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OED Second Edition (1989)

• View Alpine, a. and n. in OED Second Edition

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Factsheet for alpine, adj. & n., browse entry.