Dictionary

What is a Dictionary?


Dictionary is the Universe in Alphabetical Order (Anatole France) and full of suggestion, the raw material of possible poems and histories (R.W. Emerson).


Well. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a dictionary is:


A book dealing with the individual words of a language (or certain specified classes of them), so as to set forth their orthography, pronunciation, signification and use, their synonyms, derivation and history or at least some of these facts. For convenience of reference, the words are arranged in some stated order, now in most languages, alphabetical. And in larger dictionaries the information given is illustrated by quotations from literature.


A dictionary is a word-book, vocabulary or lexicon.


A dictionary is also known (at various times) as abcedariaum, alveary (bee-hive) calepin, catholicon, glossary, ortus (garden), polyglot, lexicon, thesaurus, verbal, word-book and world of words.


Related Links:


• Is there An Official Committee which regulates the English language?
• Do you include words used on the Internet?
• Are Lexicographers good spellers?
• Are Dictionaries really necessary?
• Are dictionaries always in Alphabetical Order?
• What is a Dictionary?

• What are the Oxford Dictionary?
• Are other languages recorded in huge Multi-Volume Dictionaries?
• Do Dictionary-Makers ever make mistakes?
• What is the chronology of events relevant to the history of the OED?
• How can I access Dictionary Online?

• How do you decide What To Include in a dictionary?
• How do you decide If a New Word should go in an Oxford Dictionary?
• Will the Dictionary-Makers put MY NEW WORD into their dictionaries?
• How will be a Dictionary In 2050?
• How has Computer Technology affected dictionary-making?

• How do you know what a word means?
• Dictionaries have changed over the years. How?
• When will the Third Edition of the OED be published?
• What skills and talents does a Lexicographer need?
• How will The Revision affect the size of the OED?