And the sturdy boxes in which the dictionary comes are each the perfect size for a manuscript. Here is the greatest treasure of words waiting to be assembled into fiery tracts and rants, literary novels, histories, sagas, comic poems, exposes, polemics, tall tales and learned treatises, kids' books, advert copy, reports on busted dams and declarations, all the expressions of a hundred different cultures. 'The richest people in the world are those who have the OED on their shelves. 'With its exhaustive definitions and precise etymology, the Oxford English Dictionary is absolutely indispensable to our work here at Jeopardy!'-Gary Johnson, Jeopardy! Supervising Producer/Writer For its 75th anniversary since the last volume of the First Edition was published, Oxford University Press has knocked down the prices big time.'- Chicago Sun-Times It no longer takes a small mortgage, or at least a trip to the library, to plumb the Oxford English Dictionary-the big one, not the abridged training-wheels versions. Other features distinguishing the entries in the dictionary are the most authoritative definitions, detailed information on pronunciation, variant spellings throughout each word's history, extensive treatment of etymology, and details of area of usage and of any regional characteristics (including geographical origins).Ī dictionary like no other in the world, the OED has been described as 'among the wonders of the world of scholarship.' Reflecting upon the Dictionary's 80 years, that statement is today more apt than it ever has been.Īlso available online at: 'Word lovers, the gods are smiling upon you. In all, nearly 2.5 million quotations-illustrating over a half-million words-can be found in the OED. The quotations are drawn from a huge variety of sources-literary, scholarly, technical, popular-and represent authors as disparate as Geoffrey Chaucer and Erica Jong, William Shakespeare and Raymond Chandler, Charles Darwin and John Le Carre. Accompanying each definition is a chronologically arranged group of quotations that illustrate the evolution of meaning from the word's first recorded usage and show the contexts in which it can be used. The key feature of the OED, of course, is its unique historical focus. Begun in 1857, published in ten volumes in 1928, subsequently revised and expanded to 20 volumes in 1989, and now adopted to the electronic age, the OED has become the most venerated and most beloved English-language reference ever compiled. And with its enormous range, unparalleled historical depth, detailed etymologies, and inexhaustible supply of illustrative quotations, it has enriched the lives of writers, readers, and word-lovers of all stripes ever since. Oxford Research Encyclopedias: Global Public HealthĮighty years ago, the 'greatest work in dictionary-making ever undertaken' was completed.The European Society of Cardiology Series.Oxford Commentaries on International Law.

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