[Ads-l] dictionary-wise 1749 [and OED3]

[Joel Berson]

Interesting.  "Dictionary-wise" is not in OED3.  What does it mean?


(1)  Presumably here not "knowledgeable" as in "wise, adj. (n.3 and adv.)", but rather "-wise, comb. form", "in the manner of" -- that is, ordered alphabetically, like a dictionary.


(2)  But also present is the "knowledgeable" sense.  E.g.:


"It did not seem to matter how 'dictionary-wise' the participants were, nor how often they used a dictionary — their performances as judged by their scores were not influenced by either of these factors."


Martin East.  _Dictionary Use in Foreign Language Writing Exams: Impact and Implications_.  John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2008. Page 60.  Google Books, preview.


(3) And consider its meaning in "It [the color?] goes as a paint all over it ; nay, dictionary- wise, right into it."

Unsurprisingly, this is from _Metaphysics ..._.  By John Miller (N.Y.: Dodd & Mead, 1875), p. 214.  Google Books, full view.


Both (1) and (2) -- later than 1749 -- seem to be frequent.

Joel


________________________________
From: James A. Landau <JJJRLandau at NETSCAPE.COM>
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU 
Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2016 9:58 AM
Subject: [ADS-L] dictionary-wise 1749


https://books.google.com/books?id=Lu02AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA52&dq=one+dollar&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiL9_TJttTLAhWFPz4KHZ4OCIU4ChDoAQg8MAY#v=onepage&q=one%20dollar&f=false

ARITHMETIC IN TWO PARTS: Containing

I. A System of the Art, in Memorial Verses, and Dictionary-wise; for the readier Learning, Consulting, and Recollecting of the several articles...

by Solomon Lowe

London: MDCCXLIX [1749], No ISBN


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