English lexicographer, born in July 1775. He studied law but devoted himself to literature. After publishing Illustrations of English Philology (1815) he undertook to prepare for the Encyclopædia Metropolitana articles on lexicography. These served as an introduction to his Dictionary of the English Language (2 vols., 1837), whose peculiarity is that derivative words are classified under their primitives and abundantly illustrated by quotations. The Dictionary proved popular, passed through several editions in England and was reprinted in the United States. Richardson continued his philological labors, publishing a Supplement (1855), a Historical Essay in English Grammar (1845), and a work on The Study of Languages (1854). He also published some comments on Shakespeare and contributed to various literary periodicals. He died at Feltham, Middlesex, on the 6th of October 1865.
