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The Dictionary of Lost Words

Book cover of The Dictionary of Lost Words
The Dictionary of Lost WordsPip Williams

Characters in The Dictionary of Lost Words

7 characters, main characters first.

Main characters

  • Esme Nicoll

    Raised in the Scriptorium of the Oxford English Dictionary, she collects words the dictionary discards.

Supporting characters

  • Harry Nicoll

    Esme's widowed father, a Scottish lexicographer working under Dr. Murray in the Scriptorium on the Oxford English Dictionary.

  • Lizzie Lester

    A servant in the Murray household who becomes Esme's closest friend and introduces her to working-class vocabulary.

  • Edith Thompson (The Dictionary of Lost Words)

    Esme's godmother, a real historian who contributed thousands of quotations to the OED; Esme calls her "Ditte."

  • Gareth Owen

    A compositor at Oxford University Press sympathetic to women's suffrage who grows close to Esme.

  • Tilda Taylor

    An actress and suffragette Esme meets at the market, who draws her into the women's suffrage movement.

  • James Murray

    The real historical head editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, overseeing the Scriptorium where Esme's father works.

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