Sir Thomas Elyot

Sir Thomas Elyot , c.1490-1546, English author. He wrote the earliest Latin-English dictionary (1538) and is remembered especially for his sensible and well-written treatise on the education of statesmen, The Book Named the Governour (1531).

ELYOT, (Sir) Thomas [1499?–1546]. English statesman and scholar. In such works as The boke named The gouernour (1531), he held that though RHETORIC made LATIN and GREEK style more eloquent, the structure of English made meaning clearer. Elyot sought to increase English vocabulary by borrowing from Latin, Greek, and FRENCH, in order to correct ‘the insufficiencie of our owne langage’. When introducing new words, he often used them in explanatory pairs: education or bringing up of children; explicating or unfolding. See BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER.

Elyot, Sir Thomas (c.1490–1546), author of the Boke Named the Governour, published in 1531, a treatise on education and politics. His other works include The Doctrinall of Princis (c.1533), translated from Isocrates, The Image of Governance (1540), The Castell of Helthe (c.1537), an important manual of health, and Platonic dialogues and compilations from the Fathers. His translations did much to popularize the classics in England. His Dictionary (Latin and English, 1538) was the first book published in England to bear this title.