ABSTRACT
Most general and historical dictionaries of English explain the meaning of lexicography in a practical, workaday manner: (la) lexicography-'the practice of compiling dictionaries'
NEW OXFORD DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH (NODE, 1998) (1 b) lexicography-'the art or practice of writing dictionaries'
NEW SHORTER OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY (NSQED, 1993) (1c) lexicography-'the process or profession of writing or compiling
dictionaries' COLLINS DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE (C£D2, 1986)
(1d) lexicography - 'the process or work of writing or compiling a dictionary' AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE (AHD3, 1992)
The heavy reliance in these definitions on the term dictionary is quite obvious, less so the similarity in the formulation of the definitions between CED2 and AHD3 (for which there is an explanation that the combined forces of dictionary history and dictionary criticism will be able to provide in 4.2.5). Principle 2.1 below addresses the problem of which conventions to use when citing dictionaries and other reference works.
