William Dwight Whitney

William Dwight Whitney was an American lexicographer, linguist, librarian, and translator. Born in Northampton on February 9, 1827, he worked at Yale University and wrote in English. His professional fields included linguistics and philology. He was educated at Williams College, the University of Tübingen, and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Whitney was a member of the Society for Classical Studies, the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences, the American Society for Premodern Asia, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He received the award of Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

He died in New Haven on June 7, 1894. Whitney is the sibling of Josiah Whitney and relative of Hassler Whitney. His student was Charles Rockwell Lanman. His notable works include *The British in India*, *Sanskrit grammar*, *On the Avesta*, and *Collation of a second manuscript of the Atharva-Veda Prâtiçâkhya*. His archives are held at the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library. He is described by sources such as the *Nordisk familjebok*, *Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary*, and the *Encyclopædia Britannica* 11th edition.