Question about middle english dictionaries - bible text Wycliffe [migrated]

I am unsure what dictionary nowadays has translations of Middle English. As of my research, the language has changed rapidly in that time as of settlement and like migrations from other countries in that time.

Especially the Wycliffe 1380 Bible has been translated into the East Midland dialect of Middle English.

What might be the best book to help me understand that Bible?

A special word I have tried to lookup in dictionaries is: nouyt. But there are of course more and as well from other languages.

For the sake of books I suppose to be available may be rare — I don't want to try and buy.

Solution 1:

My primary recommendation is the Middle English Dictionary. It's freely available on the web, pretty comprehensive, and easy-to-use. I use it quite a lot, and while it may not have all Middle English words, you can get far with it. Sometimes I've had the need to break down or re-spell words when searching, but that's pretty rare.

When other dictionaries give you nought, the Middle English Dictionary gives you nought, because you're searching for "nouyt".

As for other dictionaries, the OED is good too, but it requires an expensive membership or organizational subscription.

For extra help in translating the Bible specifically, I recommend BibleHub. While this only has more recent translations (KJV being the oldest), sometimes that's all you need to recognize a weird spelling change. Sometimes it's the commentary on the original text that's helpful, or the information on how interpretations changed over time.