Jean Pruvost, born on December 30, 1949, in Saint-Denis (France), is a lexicologist and historian of the French language. He was a professor at the University of Cergy-Pontoise and directed the CNRS laboratory “Lexiques, dictionnaires, informatique” (Lexicons, Dictionaries, Information Technology). His thesis, defended in 1981, focused on onomasiological dictionaries (synonymy and analogy). He is one of the leading specialists in French language dictionaries: in 1994, he founded the “Journées des dictionnaires” (Dictionary Days), an annual international conference for lexicologists and lexicographers. He has also edited several scholarly journals and collections, notably for Éditions Honoré Champion, and published numerous works on the history of words and language.