Adrian Room (1933–2010)

Author of Brewer's Dictionary of Modern Phrase & Fable

About the Author

Adrian Room was a noted toponymist and onomastician. The author of more than 50 reference books about words and names, he lived in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England.

Includes the names: A Room, Room Adrian, Adarian Room, ed. Brewer; Adrian Room, Adrian (eds) Brewer; Room

Works by Adrian Room

Dictionary of Confusable Words (1979) 83 copies, 1 review

Dictionary of Britain (1986) 81 copies, 1 review

Brewer's Dictionary of Names (1992) — Editor, some editions; Editor — 52 copies

Placenames of the World: Origins and Meanings of the Names for over 5000 Natural Features, Countries, Capitals, Territories, Cities and Historic sites (1974) 48 copies, 2 reviews

A Dictionary of True Etymologies (1986) 47 copies, 1 review

Who's Who in Classical Mythology (1997) 47 copies

Dictionary of British Place Names (1988) 46 copies

Dictionary of Pseudonyms: 11,000 Assumed Names and Their Origins (2004) 36 copies

Cassell's Dictionary of Word Histories (1999) 34 copies

Dictionary of Irish Place Names (1986) 32 copies

Dictionary of Confusing Words and Meanings (1985) 27 copies

The Guinness Book of Numbers (1989) 26 copies

Cassell's Dictionary of Foreign Words and Phrases (2000) 26 copies

Dictionary of Trade Name Origins (1982) 25 copies

Ntc's Dictionary of Word Origins (NTC Business Books) (1990) 23 copies

Dunces, Gourmands & Petticoats (Artful Wordsmith Series) (1998) 22 copies

Tuttle Dictionary of Dedications: Over 1500 Dedications - From Jane Austen to Kurt Vonnegut (Tuttle Reference Library) (1992) 21 copies

Room's Dictionary of Distinguishables (1981) 21 copies

Cassell's Dictionary of First Names (2002) 21 copies

Ntc's Dictionary of Changes in Meaning (NTC Publishing Group Titles) (1991) 20 copies

Naming Names: Book of Pseudonyms and Name Changes, with a Who's Who (1981) 17 copies

Dictionary of Contrasting Pairs (1988) 15 copies

Cassell Dictionary of Proper Names (1994) 15 copies

The Fascinating Origins of Everyday Words (The Artful Wordsmith Series) (1997) 14 copies, 1 review

African Placenames: Origins and Meanings of the Names for over 2000 Natural Features, Towns, Cities, Provinces and Countries (1994) 14 copies

Concise dictionary of word origins (1996) 13 copies

Room's Dictionary of Differences (1982) 13 copies

Dictionary of Cryptic Crossword Clues (1983) 12 copies

Dictionary of Changes in Meaning (1986) 11 copies

Dictionary of Coin Names (1987) 11 copies, 1 review

The Street Names of England (1992) 10 copies

Place-name changes since 1900 : a world gazetteer (1979) 10 copies

A Concise Dictionary of Modern Place Names in Great Britain and Ireland (1983) 9 copies

The Naming of Animals: An Appellative Reference to Domestic, Work and Show Animals Real and Fictional (1993) 9 copies

Nicknames of Places: Origins And Meanings of the Alternate And Secondary Names, Sobriquets, Titles, Epithets And ... (2006) 9 copies

Dictionary of Dedications (1990) 9 copies

Dictionary of Translated Names and Titles (1986) 9 copies, 1 review

The Hutchinson Concise Dictionary of Word Origins (1995) 8 copies

Pocket companion guide to British place names (1985) 8 copies

Dictionary of World Place-Names Derived from British Names (1989) 7 copies

Ntc's Classical Dictionary: The Origins of the Names of Characters in Classical Mythology (Ntc Mythology Books) (1990) 7 copies

Room's Classical Dictionary: The Origins of the Names of Characters in Classical Mythology (1983) 7 copies

Alternate Names of Places: A Worldwide Dictionary (2009) 7 copies

Dictionary of Astronomical Names (1988) 7 copies

The Hutchinson Pocket Dictionary of Confusible Words (Hutchinson Pocket Series) (1994) 7 copies

Dictionary of Place-Names in the British Isles. Over 4,000 Place-Names - Their Fascinating Origins and History 6 copies

Encyclopedia of Corporate Names Worldwide (2002) 6 copies

Bloomsbury Dictionary of Place Names in the British Isles (1993) 6 copies

A Dictionary of Art Titles: The Origins of the Names and Titles of 3,000 Works of Art (2000) 5 copies

Ntc's Dictionary of Trade Name Origins (1998) 5 copies

A Dictionary of Music Titles: The Origins of the Names and Titles of 3,500 Musical Compositions (2000) 5 copies

Dictionary of Sports and Games Terminology (2010) 5 copies

Placenames of France: Over 4,000 Towns, Villages, Natural Features, Regions and Departments (2004) 5 copies

Bloomsbury Dictionary of Dedications 4 copies

An Alphabetical Guide to the Language of Name Studies (1996) 3 copies

The Hutchinson Pocket Dictionary of Place Names (Hutchinson Pocket Series) (1995) 3 copies

Literally Entitled: A Dictionary of the Origins of the Titles of More Than 1300 Major Literary Works of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (1996) 3 copies

The Pronunciation of Placenames: A Worldwide Dictionary (2007) 3 copies

Corporate Eponymy: A Biographical Dictionary of the Persons Behind the Names of Major American, British, European and Asian Businesses (1992) 3 copies

Placenames of Russia and the Former Soviet Union: Origins and Meanings of the Names for over 2000 Natural Features, Towns, Regions and Countries (1996) 3 copies

Place-name changes 1900-1991 (1994) 2 copies

Cassell's Dictionary of Modern American History (2002) 2 copies

A Name for Your Baby (1992) 2 copies

Hutchinson Pocket Dictionary of First Names (1994) 1 copy

Room's Dictionary of Distinguishables and Confusibles (1981) 1 copy

Dictionary of Foreign Words 1 copy

Place-Name Changes Since 1900 1 copy

DICTIONARY OF TRANSLATED NAMES AND TITLES 1 copy

NAMING NAMES. A BOOK OF PSEUDONYMS 1 copy

PLACE NAMES OF THE WORLD 1 copy

Work Explorer

Associated Works

Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable (1870) — Editor, some editions — 3,328 copies, 28 reviews

The Oxford Names Companion (2002) — Editor, some editions — 64 copies

Tagged

Main Associated

Britain (13) dictionaries (60) dictionaries (monolingual - english) (11) dictionary (119) Engels (14) England (5) English (27) English language (27) etymology (39) gazetteer (6) genealogy (5) geography (20) Great Britain (8) history (16) Ireland (14) language (70) Lexikon (6) linguistics (14) mythology (13) names (36) non-fiction (49) onomastics (17) plaatsnamen (5) place names (23) pseudonyms (7) reference (163) toponiemen (5) toponymie (5) UK (5) words (17)

Common Knowledge

Canonical name: Room, Adrian
Birthdate: 1933-09-27
Date of death: 2010
Gender: male
Organizations: Royal Geographic Society (Fellow)
Nationality: UK
Birthplace: Melksham, Wiltshire, England
Associated Place (for map): UK

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Reviews

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9 reviews

languagehat 389 reviews

Place-Names of the World by Adrian Room

As useful and maddening as all of Room's productions; you can't trust it (under Peking/Beijing: "alternative name of Peiping has same meaning"), and there are bizarre inclusions (Cortina d'Ampezzo, Costa Smeralda, Costa Verde) and exclusions (Babylon, Carthage, Lhasa), but I refer to it all the time.

Sep 10, 20051 other review

languagehat 389 reviews

Dictionary of translated names and titles by Adrian Room

Like all of Room's many reference works (is he a man or a committee?), maddening and indispensible. Gives titles in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Russian, a brilliant idea somewhat damaged by the absurd inclusion of entries like "Middlemarch, Middlemarch, Middlemarch, Middlemarch, Middlemarch."

Sep 10, 2005

MarthaJeanne 2,126 reviews

Dictionary of true etymologies by Adrian Room