Unlike the rival dictionary of the Académie française, finally published in 1694, Furetière's Dictionnaire included specialized technical and scientific vocabulary.
[1] At first, Furetière participated in the collaborative project with enthusiasm, but he eventually grew frustrated with his colleagues' approach and slow progress and began work on his own dictionary, probably around 1676–78.
[4] In 1685, after fierce recriminations on both sides, Furetière was expelled from the academy, and the French government revoked his permission to publish the dictionary.
In 1690, the Dictionaire universel was published posthumously in the Netherlands with a preface by Pierre Bayle, who had helped arrange for the work's publication.
In 1704, a three-volume encyclopedia was published outside Lyon at Trévoux, then the capital of Dombes, under the title of Dictionnaire universel françois et latin.