Introduction

The work emerged from the Pali Text Society’s broader programme of editing and publishing Pāli literature. Rhys Davids explains that the rapid expansion of available canonical texts made a new dictionary necessary, since earlier lexicographical works had been produced when only a comparatively small portion of Pāli literature was accessible. The project therefore sought to establish meanings through systematic textual evidence rather than relying primarily on inherited Sanskrit derivations or broad English equivalents. Sanskrit cognates are frequently supplied as comparative evidence, but the editors explicitly recognize that Pāli cannot simply be treated as a derivative form of Classical Sanskrit.

William Stede’s concluding Afterword, dated April 1925, documents the history and methodology of the project. He emphasizes that the dictionary required extensive reconstruction of lexical evidence rather than simple editing of pre-existing materials. The finished work was intended as a foundation for continuing investigation into Pāli grammar, semantics, textual criticism, Buddhist terminology, historical linguistics, and the intellectual history preserved in Pāli literature.

Foreword
List of the Chief Books Consulted for Vocabulary
- Pāli Books
- Canonical Literature
- Post-Canonical Literature
- Buddhist Sanskrit
- Translations
- Grammatical and Other Literature; Periodicals
List of Abbreviations
- Titles of Books
- General and Grammatical Terms
- Typographical Conventions
Pāli-English Dictionary
Afterword
- Dictionary Work
- History of the Dictionary Scheme
- My Material
- How to Judge the Dictionary
- Issues Involved in the Pāli Dictionary
- Conclusion