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James Murray dedicated his life to documenting the history of the English language. As chief editor of the Oxford English Dictionary from 1879, he oversaw its creation – a monumental project tracing word origins and usage across centuries. His meticulous work built the *OED*, a foundational resource...
John Simpson is a British lexicographer who served as chief editor of the Oxford English Dictionary and oversaw its 1989 second edition.
Henry Bradley (1845-1923) was a British philologist and OED editor, responsible for major sections including E, F-G, L, M, S-Sh, St, and part of W.
Sir William A. Craigie was a Scottish lexicographer, third OED editor, and co-editor of its 1933 supplement and the Dictionary of American English.
Robert Burchfield (1923-2004) was a New Zealand-born lexicographer who edited the four-volume OED Supplement, published from 1972 to 1986.
Edmund Weiner is a British lexicographer who co-edited the 1989 second edition of the Oxford English Dictionary with John Simpson after joining the OED in 1977.
Philip Durkin is a British lexicographer and etymologist known for OED etymology work and The Oxford Guide to Etymology, published in 2009.
Charles Talbut Onions was an English lexicographer who contributed to the *Oxford English Dictionary* and edited the *Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology* in 1966.
Frederick James Furnivall was an English philologist and second OED editor, founding the Early English Text Society in 1864 for source texts.
Peter Gilliver is a British lexicographer and OED associate editor who published The Making of the Oxford English Dictionary in 2016.
Michael Proffitt is a British lexicographer who became the Chief Editor of the *Oxford English Dictionary* in 2013, overseeing its ongoing digital and historical revision.
Jesse Sheidlower is an American lexicographer and former Oxford English Dictionary editor, also known for research on English slang and usage.
Herbert Coleridge was an English philologist and the first editor of the future Oxford English Dictionary, organizing 100,000 citation slips by 1861.
Sarah Ogilvie is an Australian lexicographer and former OED editor whose 2023 book The Dictionary People studied OED volunteer contributors.
Fiona McPherson is a lexicographer associated with the Oxford English Dictionary, identified in 2025 as its Executive Editor.
