Who was it, on putting pen to paper, who first came out with the
word ‘however’? What about ‘tradition’ or the very useful
‘Leviticus’ to designate the third book of the Bible in English?
Today we commemorate their coiner, John Wycliffe, although not
for his word-creating skill. He was also (in case you were
wondering) the first to use ‘costly’, ‘ceremonial’ and, so the
Oxford English Dictionary says, a further 500+ words. Some
include the now sorely missed ‘hornen’ (made of horn), ‘holet’
(a small hole) and ‘wlatsomeness’ (disgust). A surprising number
of entries in a dictionary for a man who couldn’t seem to spell
his own name.* Of course, he did things that are more notable.
Wycliffe headed up the first complete translation of the Bible
into English. And now, 600 years after his death, workers are
starting new Bible translations under his name. In fact, one
very young man in Tonga is a living reminder Wycliffe’s work.
His mum and dad are leading the Tongan Bible translation
organisation, and have named him