Question

Read the excerpts from Samuel Johnson’s preface to A Dictionary of the English Language. Thus have I laboured by settling the orthography, displaying the analogy, regulating the structures, and ascertaining the signification of English words, to perform all the parts of a faithful lexicographer: but I have not always executed my own scheme, or satisfied my own expectations. The underlined word emerges as a key term in the preface because Johnson

Answer 1

strives to emphasize the effort his dictionary required

Answer 2

The correct answer is: The underlined word emerges as a key term in the preface because Johnson strives to emphasize the effort his dictionary required.

When Johnson writes “I laboured by settling the orthography, displaying the analogy, regulating the structures, and ascertaining the signification of English words” it denotes the emphasis he considers the dictionary requires.

“A Dictionary of the English Language” was written by Samuel Johnson, and was published in April 1755. It is considered one the most influential dictionaries of the English language.

Previous to his dictionary there were almost 20 dictionaries, basically published in the U.K. But a group of intellectuals booksellers from England asked Johnson to write “A Dictionary of the English Language”.