Benjamin Martin (baptized 1705; died 1782)[1] was a lexicographer who compiled one of the early English dictionaries, the Lingua Britannica Reformata (1749).

[6] He intended readers eventually to reorganize and rebind the separate parts of individual numbers into one large reference work.

He attempted suicide, and while it was not immediately successful, the wound (nature unknown[4]) was grievous enough and he failed to recover, and died on 9 February 1782.

His dictionary also pre-saged Johnson in that he laid out a detailed set of objectives (that it should be universal, explain the etymologies, etc.).

While his etymologies are often inconsistent and tended to err in favour of Latin origins,[4] his work was an improvement on earlier dictionaries in that it had a simpler system of spelling and a clearer guide to pronunciation.