The Concise Oxford English Dictionary - Hardcover

Fowler, H. W.

4.4

10 ratings by Goodreads

9780198602590: The Concise Oxford English Dictionary

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0198602596 ISBN 13: 9780198602590

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1999

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

For this new edition, Oxford's lexicographers have used evidence provided by The British National Corpus to rewrite every entry to represent English as it is used today. There are over 220,000 words, phrases and meanings covering current and historical English, and specialist and technical areas. Each entry is now clearer and more accessible, with the most modern meanings placed first, and definitions given in a clear and straightforward style. Authoritative guidance on grammar and usage is provided in highlighted boxes, that addresses contentious and controversial views. There are also new Word Formation panels that show how complex words are created and identify different word groups such as phobias, cultures and ariums, adding to the rich coverage of English.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:

Dictionary [Oxford, Concise] n. a book that lists the words of a language in alphabetical order and gives their meaning, or their equivalent in a different language. Oxford n. a type of lace-up shoe with a low heel. Origin C19th: named after the city of Oxford. Concise adj. giving a lot of information clearly and in a few words.

Compiled from the world's biggest language research programme, Oxford lexicographers have rewritten all 220,000 entries in the latest and greatest edition of The Concise Oxford English Dictionary. The very first edition of this dictionary, published in 1911, drew on the content and method of Editor James Murray's revolutionary lifework, the Oxford English Dictionary, the vivid history of which is captured in Simon Winchester's bestselling linguistic detective story of words, murder and madness, The Surgeon of Crowthorne:

"Other dictionaries in other languages took longer to make; but none was greater, grander or had more authority than this. The greatest effort since the invention of printing. The longest sensational serial ever written."

As its name suggests, the Concise Oxford Dictionary provides a streamlined compendium of easily accessible edited highlights from its more cumbersome ancestor. Arduously edited from longhand submissions, a typewritten manuscript and handset on a letter press, the very first edition was a labour of love. Nearly a century later, this new tenth edition draws extensively on new technology--including the citation database of the Oxford World Reading Programme which houses approximately 50 million words--to present an inclusive reference guide to living, breathing English. In its own concise definition of its method:

"Each entry is built around the core sense or senses of the word in current English, as based on rigorous analysis of large amounts of real, modern evidence available in computerized form."

So no need to scrabble for other dictionaries, this is the last word in quick authoritative reference, and a lexical luxury for etymologists. --Rachel Holmes

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.