Women's Words and Their Meanings Symbol in The Dictionary of Lost Words

The Literal Object: A Handmade Dictionary of Excluded Words

In The Dictionary of Lost Words, the symbol of Women's Words and Their Meanings takes physical form as a slender, leather-bound volume that Gareth prints for Esme. The book is a collection of word slips—each with a word and a quotation—that Esme has gathered over decades, many of them words used by women or referring to women's experiences that were rejected from the Oxford English Dictionary. The volume is first mentioned in the August 1914 chapter, when Gareth presents Esme with a printed, leather-bound copy of her compilation, and it reappears in the September 1915 chapter when Horace Hart sends two additional copies after Gareth's death. The book is later found in Esme's trunk by her daughter Megan in 1928, and its title is embossed on the cover. The physical object is thus a tangible record of what the official dictionary left out, a counter-archive of women's language.

Recurrence and Evolution: From Secret Slips to Printed Legacy

The symbol evolves through several stages. It begins as a single slip—the word bondmaid—that Esme catches as a child under the sorting table in the Scriptorium (May 1887). She keeps it, and over time she collects other slips that fall or are rejected, storing them in a trunk under Lizzie's bed. This trunk becomes a private repository of lost words, hidden from the official dictionary project. In May 1909, Esme explicitly decides to make a dictionary of women's words, telling Lizzie, “A dictionary of women's words. Words they use and words that refer to them. Words that won't make it into Dr. Murray's dictionary.” The trunk thus transforms from a hiding place into a source for a new kind of dictionary.

The next stage is the printed book. In August 1914, Gareth presents Esme with a printed, leather-bound volume titled Women's Words and Their Meanings, which he has edited and printed. This act moves the collection from private to public, from slips to a bound book. After Gareth's death, Horace Hart sends two more copies, noting that he has retained a third for the Oxford University Press library. Esme attempts to donate a copy to the Bodleian, but Mr. Madan rejects it as “of no scholarly importance.” This rejection underscores the institutional barriers that the symbol challenges. Finally, in November 1928, Megan finds the book in her mother's trunk, along with the slips, and reads it. The epilogue shows Megan, now an elderly professor, speaking the word bondmaid at a lexicography convention, connecting the symbol to a new generation.

Meaning and Symbolism: Reclaiming Women's Excluded Language

The symbol represents the reclamation of language that the official dictionary excluded. The novel's Author's Note states that the first edition of the OED was biased toward the experiences of men, and that women's words were often treated differently. Women's Words and Their Meanings is Esme's response to that bias: it collects words that were used by women or that described women's lives but were not deemed worthy of inclusion. The book thus symbolizes the power of ordinary people to define their own experiences, rather than relying on male editors.

The symbol also embodies the tension between written and oral language. The OED required every word to have a written source, which favored words from books written by men. Esme's collection includes words from women like Lizzie, who speaks her definition of knackered aloud, and whose words are recorded verbatim. The book values oral testimony and lived experience over literary pedigree.

Moreover, the symbol represents the inadequacy of language for trauma and grief. Gareth's letter from the front describes the inadequacy of words for war's horrors, and Esme's collection includes words that capture experiences the official dictionary cannot express. The book becomes a way to preserve what would otherwise be lost.

Character Connections

Esme is the central figure: she compiles the slips, decides to make a dictionary, and later edits the printed volume. Her journey from a child hiding under the sorting table to a woman who creates her own dictionary mirrors the symbol's evolution. Gareth prints the book, giving it physical form and legitimacy; his death and the subsequent copies make the book a memorial. Lizzie contributes words and serves as a touchstone for the value of oral language; her definition of knackered appears in the book. Ditte (Edith Thompson) provides early encouragement and shares her own rejected word, forgiven-ness, which Esme includes. Dr. Murray represents the official dictionary that excludes these words; his death and the dismantling of the Scriptorium contrast with the survival of Esme's book.

Theme Connections

The symbol directly engages the theme of the gendered exclusion of women's words. It also illustrates the authority of written versus oral language, as Esme's book privileges spoken testimony. The act of compiling and printing the book is a form of resistance to social control, and the inclusion of words for trauma and grief speaks to the inadequacy of language for trauma. Finally, the book's survival and transmission to Megan embody the preservation of lost words as legacy.

Study Questions and Answers

1. How does the symbol of Women's Words and Their Meanings change from a private collection to a public statement?

Initially, Esme's collection is a secret stash of slips hidden in a trunk, known only to Lizzie. In May 1909, Esme decides to make a dictionary, but it remains a private project. The turning point is Gareth's printing of the book in August 1914, which gives it a public form. After Gareth's death, Horace Hart sends two copies, and Esme attempts to donate one to the Bodleian, though it is rejected. The book thus moves from private to public, but its rejection by the scholarly establishment shows that public recognition is not easily won.

2. What does the rejection by the Bodleian reveal about the novel's critique of institutional authority?

Mr. Madan dismisses the book as “of no scholarly importance” because it was not compiled by a scholar and its topic is deemed insignificant. This rejection mirrors the OED's own exclusion of women's words: institutions define what counts as knowledge. The novel critiques this gatekeeping by showing that Esme's book fills a gap in knowledge, even if the institution refuses to see it. The rejection also highlights the class and gender biases of the scholarly world.

3. How does Lizzie's contribution to the book challenge the OED's reliance on written sources?

Lizzie's definition of knackered is spoken, not written, and Esme records it verbatim, including Lizzie's nonstandard grammar. The OED required written quotations, which excluded oral language. By including Lizzie's spoken words, the book challenges the idea that only written language is valid. Lizzie's reaction—she is proud to see her name in the book—shows the personal significance of being included in a dictionary.

4. In what ways does the symbol connect to the theme of legacy and inheritance?

The book is passed from Esme to Megan through the trunk. Megan reads it and later speaks the word bondmaid at a conference, connecting her mother's work to a new generation. The book thus becomes a legacy that preserves women's words and experiences. The epilogue shows Megan as a professor, suggesting that the reclamation of lost words can have lasting impact. The symbol also connects to Esme's own inheritance from her mother Lily, whose name was excluded from the dictionary because it lacked a meaning.

Conclusion

Women's Words and Their Meanings is a powerful symbol of resistance, reclamation, and legacy. It begins as a child's secret and ends as a printed book that challenges the authority of the official dictionary. Through its evolution, the symbol underscores the novel's central questions about who gets to define language and what is lost when women's words are excluded. The book's survival in the trunk and its eventual transmission to Megan affirm that even rejected words can find a voice.