Henry Cecil Kennedy Wyld (1870–1945) was a significant English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 lexicographer

Lexicography

Lexicography is divided into two related disciplines:*Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries....

 and philologist.

Early life

Wyld was born in 1870. He studied at Charterhouse from 1883 to 1885. He was privately educated in Lausanne from 1885 to 1888. He studied at the University of Bonn

University of Bonn

The University of Bonn is a public research university located in Bonn, Germany. Founded in its present form in 1818, as the linear successor of earlier academic institutions, the University of Bonn is today one of the leading universities in Germany. The University of Bonn offers a large number...

, the University of Heidelberg and Corpus Christi College, Oxford

Corpus Christi College, Oxford

Corpus Christi College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom...

.

Academic career

From 1904 to 1920, he was Baines Professor of English Language and Philology, Liverpool University. He was Merton Professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

 and a Fellow of Merton College, Oxford

Merton College, Oxford

Merton College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor to Henry III and later to Edward I, first drew up statutes for an independent academic community and established endowments to...

from 1920 until his death in 1945.

Publication

Wyld published many papers and books during his career. He published his Universal Dictionary of the English Language in 1932.

Honors

Wyld was awarded British Academy Biennial Prize for contributions to the study of the English Language and Literature in 1932.