The Middle English Compendium (MEC) has been designed to offer easy access to
and interconnectivity between three major Middle English electronic resources: an electronic
version of the Middle English Dictionary (MED), a Hyperbibliography of
Middle English prose and verse, and an associated network of electronic resources, including
a large collection of Middle English texts (the Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse).
Hypertext links offer quick connections between MED citations, bibliographical
information about its source, and an electronic version of the source if one is included in
the collection.
The heart of the Middle English Compendium (MEC) is the electronic version of
the Middle English Dictionary (MED), an ongoing project that
provides a comprehensive analysis of the Middle English language for the period 1100-1500
A.D. Based on an analysis of over 3 million citation slips, the
MED is the definitive authority on Middle English. The complete MED
is projected at approximately 15,000 pages in length.
The Hyperbibliography of Middle English provides complete bibliographic
information for all materials cited in the MED. Titles are followed in each
entry in the hyperbibliography by the short title, or "stencil," by which the
work is cited in the MED.
The Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse is an electronic full-text
archive of materials cited in the MED.
- Open the Middle English Compendium by making your choice from
the database menu available on the
Miller Nichols Library Website.
- Select either the Middle English Dictionary, the Hyperbibliography
of Middle English, or the Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse
for searching (according to your needs). Remember that the MEC is designed to
facilitate interconnectivity between these three distinct resources.
- Each entry in the Middle English Dictionary includes a
"headword" (the main entry for a term which may have a different spelling from the
form of the term you are using), a listing of variant "forms" of the term
(alternative spellings), fields such as "etymology" and "definition,"
which provide further information about the term, and a set of "quotations" from
Middle English texts that illustrate how the term was used.
- Entries from the Middle English Dictionary can be searched in three ways:
- Lookups - allows you to search the "headwords," as
well as any variant "forms." You may also use a number of wildcard
characters to search for other variations.
- Entries - allows you to search the entire entry for a term,
including fields such as "etymology," "definition," and
"part of speech", "date", and so on. Use the drop down menus
and boolean operators to combine and narrow your search.
- Quotations - Quotations in the MED illustrate
the use of a word in Middle English. This option allows you to search for text
within a quotation. You may also search the citation, which includes date, title
and manuscript information of the source of the quotation.
- Entries in the Hyperbibliography may be searched by author, title,
stencil, or by keyword or phrase.
- Entries in the Hyperbibliography may also be searched according to
the citation number for the work provided in one of four major bibliographic works:
A Manual of the Writings in Middle English, 1050-1500 ("Manual");
A Manual of the Writings in Middle English, 1050-1400 ("Wells");
The Index of Middle English Verse ("IMEV"); and, the Index of
Printed Middle English Prose ("IPMEP"). Each of these works is available
in the Miller Nichols Library.
- The Hyperbibliography may also be browsed by viewing the "list
of authors," "list of stencils," "list of manuscripts and prints,"
and "list of documents" currently included. As this section of the MEC
is still far from complete, you may wish to browse the available materials before beginning
a search.
- Texts included in the Corpus may be searched in a number of ways,
including searching for a single word or phrase, a boolean combination of words or phrases,
or searching for wordsin close proximity to each other. You may limit the scope of the
search to a single line, a paragraph, or an entire work.
- A complete list of texts currently included in the Corpus is
available on the "Bibliography" page.
- The Middle English Compendium makes use of a number of complicated linguistic rules
in the creation of "headwords" for he entries found in the Middle English
Dictionary. Be aware of this when conducting a "lookups" search so that
you do not miss relevant entries (use the "headwords and forms" option from the
"lookups" search menu; truncate "lookups" search terms to identify
relevant linguistic stems).
- "Entries" and "quotations" searches may help you to identify
variant spellings of a term not found using the "lookups" option.
- Not all "stencil" links from MED entries to the
Hyperbibliography are active: bold stencil links
are active; normal stencil links are still under construction.
- Always make use of the "pull-down" menus provided on each search screen
to see what search options you have available to you.
- For more information on the creation, plan and method of MED, including maps
identifying the scheme of dialect areas used, users should consult the Plan and Bibliography
column published in 1954 and located in the Reference stacks under the call number,
Ref PE679.M54.
- The MEC is an extremely complicated resource that requires considerable
familiarity with Middle English language and literature in order to be effectively searched.
There are many more search tips available relevant to specific aspects of the MEC
than can be included on this guide. See the Website's "Help with Using this Resource" page,
linked from the home page, for an extensive list of "Help" topics available.
For further assistance, please contact the Miller Nichols Library
Reference Desk.
(816) 235-1534
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