Dictionary of the Irish Language: Based Mainly on Old and Middle Irish Materials (also called "theDIL"), published by theRoyal Irish Academy, is the definitivedictionary of the origins of theIrish language, specifically theOld Irish,Middle Irish, andEarly Modern Irish stages up to c. 1700; the modern language is not included. The original idea for a comprehensive dictionary of early Irish was conceived in 1852 by the two pre-eminent Irish linguists of the time,John O'Donovan andEugene O'Curry; however, it was more than sixty years until the firstfascicle (the letter D as far as the worddegóir, compiled byCarl J. S. Marstrander) was published in 1913. It was more than sixty years again until the final fascicle (only one page long and consisting of words beginning with H) was published in 1976 under the editorship ofE. G. Quin.
The full dictionary comprises about 2500 pages, but a compact edition (four original pages photoreduced onto one page) was published in 1983 (ISBN 0-901714-29-1), and the decision was made to discontinue printing the full-size edition.
A web site has been established to permit scholars to submit annotations for theDIL.[1]
As a result of a project started in 2003,[2][3] the online edition, known as theelectronic Dictionary of the Irish Language (oreDIL), was launched in theRoyal Irish Academy on the 27 June 2007. The launch was organised by theFoclóir na Nua-Ghaeilge team in the academy.