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Description
This article addresses a crucial topic in lexicography and metalexicography, namely the challenge of defining meanings in historical dictionaries. Its aim is to present an overview of the criteria for crafting effective definitions by 268semanticists, logicians and lexicographers, primarily tailored to meet the exigencies of contemporary dictionaries, attempt to apply these principles to an academic historical dictionary of the Polish language and assess the feasibility and justification of their implementation. The analysis encompasses: a) types of dictionary definitions; b) fundamental tenets of effective definitions, such as adequacy, substitutability, translatability and analyticity; c) common pitfalls regarding the formulation of definitions (inadequate definitions—overly broad or narrow definitions, direct or indirect circular definitions, ignotum per ignotius); and d) the lexicographer’s perspective, including the linguistic versus encyclopaedic nature of definitions, the quandary of categorisation (taxonomy) and valuation. The basis for the analysis is the Electronic Dictionary of the 17th- and 18th-century Polish. The theory of definitions and its practical implementation in this dictionary are discussed. References are also made to other Polish historical-philological lexicons to elucidate comparable challenges and facilitate generalisation.
