Concise English–Interlingua Dictionary
by F.P. GOPSILL and B.C. SEXTON
with the assistance of P. Berwick, F. Esterhill and R.V. Spathaky.
BRITISH INTERLINGUA SOCIETY — INTERLINGUA INSTITUTE (New York).
Originally published in 1987.
Reproducite electronicamente per Paolo Castellina.
Modificate per Terry H. Jones.
This dictionary was produced to fill the void created when Brynes Concise English–Interlingua Dictionary went out of print. In 1975 Messrs. P. Berwick, B. C. Sexton and R. V. Spathaky began compiling a new English–Interlingua dictionary using approximately 10,000 words selected by Spathaky. Later, R. V. Spathaky resigned and his place on the team was taken by F. Esterhill. By 1980 Berwick had completed most of letters A and B, Esterhill had finished letters F to K, Sexton was well in hand with letters P to Z and Spathaky had translated part of letter F. In that year Dr. F. P. Gopsill assumed editorship of the dictionary, and at the same time he and Sexton became the only compilers of the new dictionary. They took the opportunity to expand Spathakys original list to more than double and developed a new system of recording entries. Gopsill became specifically responsible for letters C to E and L to O. Sexton remained the indefatigable typist of the early drafts of the dictionary and was responsible for producing this final edition. Gopsill and Sexton furnished translations of all the new words and proofed each others work. Thus Gopsill and Sexton accept responsibility for any failures or shortcomings of this dictionary.
Words with an asterisk are words not found in Godes Interlingua–English Dictionary but which follow Godes rules for coining words. Comments for improving this edition would be gratefully received.
A strict order has been maintained with each entry. The following order has been used:
Translations of the headword. If the headword is a homonym, the order of translation is adjective, adverb, conjunction, noun, pronoun and verb.
Adverbial and prepositional phrases and idioms in alphabetical order, where the headword is replaced with a dash. If the headword is only one part of speech, that part of speech is not entered in order to save space. Within this layout the meanings are grouped together by using commas for synonyms and semicolons for homonyms. Related words are under their own heading, thus crosswords is not listed under cross.
Throughout the dictionary US vocabulary and usage have been borne in mind. Thus terms such as diaper and faucet, both not generally known in British English (which uses nappy and tap instead), have been entered as well as US spellings such as center and vise. The US ending -or and its British -our counterpart have been entered as -o(u)r under the alphabetical order -our. When the British English can be spelt -ise or -ize, the US preferred form -ize has been used. The compilers would be pleased to accept suggestions or amendments from North American users for the second edition of this dictionary.
It has been left to the editor's discretion whether to enter terms such as Black eye under Black or Eye, but we have tried to list it under both. Thus, to find such an expression the reader may have to look under more than one headword.
The spelling of compound nouns is generally a matter of private whim. Thus tablecloth could be spelt as one word, with a hyphen or as two words. The user, then, may have to look under several headwords to find such expressions.
To save space certain words have been omitted. Synonyms have often been reduced, with the result that the user, not finding a particular word, may have to look up a synonym. Thus, if unpleasant cannot be found, horrible and nasty and so on can. Moreover, many easily formable negatives have been omitted. Thus, the Interlingua for uncomplimentary can easily be deduced from complimentary. Finally, where a noun can be guessed from its adjective and vice versa (e.g. -nte/-ntia), the rarer form has often been omitted. Thus, buoyant can be found but not buoyancy.
It is good advice to countercheck in Godes Interlingua–English Dictionary and/or Gopsills Concise Interlingua–English Dictionary, that the word found in this dictionary is the one wanted. For instance, the word bill has several meanings, but the user might have chosen the wrong Interlingua word, even though the English synonyms have been given for such entries.