Historians of the English language have so far not even begun to tackle the growth of the English lexicon as it is actually recorded in early English dictionaries. The paper focuses on the first 16th-century dictionary in which English headwords are translated into Latin, Richard Huloets's Abecedarium Anglico-Latinum of 1552. More than 1000 words and meanings listed in this work are first records according to the OED. Huloet clearly distinguishes between regional and stylistic variation, literal and figurative language use and thus makes his dictionary a treasure trove for students of historical dialectology, historical pragmatics and historical lexicology.