Isidore of Seville's Etymologies: Complete English Translation

Book excerpt: This encyclopedia by the seventh century bishop of Seville, an important source for the history of intellectual culture in the early middle ages, gathers together the elements of secular learning and adds a great deal of ecclesiastical information. Its wide use in medieval education is attested by the more than a thousand extant manuscripts, second only to the number of manuscripts of the Bible.Isidore sets out the etymology or true meaning of words - to him, the fundamental means to all knowledge.