'OED', 'MED', 'AND': The making of a new dictionary of English ('Oxford English Dictionary', 'Middle English Dictionary', 'Anglo-Norman Dictionary')

It is intended to publish by 2010 a new edition of the Oxford English Dictionary in which the whole etymological and historical apparatus of entries, untouched since the early twentieth century, will be comprehensively re-done, with the aim of bringing the treatment of the pre-1500 part of the language up to the standard now found in the later period. To this end a new programme of reading is being instituted for the period of Early Modern English, yet no corresponding programme is envisaged for Middle English in the mistaken belief that, as a general rule, it will be sufficient simply to 'borrow' the requisite material from the Middle English Dictionary and the Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue, supplemented as necessary by recourse to the Franzosisches Etymologisches Worterbuch and the Anglo-Norman Dictionary. The present article puts this plan to the test, using first-hand evidence.