Collins Concise Dictionary - Hardcover

Collectif

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0007109784 ISBN 13: 9780007109784

Publisher: Collins, 2001

Synopsis

The only concise dictionary with entries for people and places.

Collins Concise Dictionary is the only concise dictionary which has encyclopedic entries for people, places, regions, and ideas... but that’s not all. It is also the most comprehensive guide to the changing language of today.

Spellings of all irregular or confusing words are given in full;

newly revised notes on current language use are given for problem words;

science, technology, and computing are fully covered, along with over 200 other specialist subjects;

examples of real English are given to illustrate the word in use;

pronunciations are given for all headwords;

all derived words are clearly signalled;

- all this, plus all the new words and meanings that you would expect to find in a Collins dictionary, clearly laid out in a thoughtfully designed page making it quick and easy to find the information you need.

About this title

Review

Anyone looking for an English dictionary is currently faced with almost an excess of choice, since 2001 has seen the publication of new editions of three major works; the Collins Concise Dictionary, the Concise Oxford Dictionary and the Encarta Concise Dictionary. All cover the same core material and at first sight seem much the same. All give definitions that place the most common sense first, guidance on such things as how formal or informal a word is, and information on the origin of a word and when it first came into the language. However, a closer look shows that they all have different strengths and offer different plus points for the user.

The Collins Concise has a strong encyclopaedic element. Alongside vocabulary words it has numerous entries on people and places. The latter are particularly good, ranging from modest towns to entries on whole countries, which give information on population, languages, currency, religion, capital city and geography. It also has excellent usage notes , giving, for example, clear guidance on the different uses of "emotional" and "emotive", or pointing out that "abrogate" and "arrogate" are often confused, although their meanings are opposite. As a Scottish publisher, Collins also has the best coverage of Scots words. The design and layout of the text makes this the easiest of the three dictionaries to read, and if you want to buy just one reference book to sit on an office or student desk, this is probably the best book to buy. --Julia Cresswell

From the Back Cover

This dictionary provides the answers to language queries – from the meanings of the latest new words to the correct grammatical construction to use – as well as essential facts about people and places in the news.

'It's easy to find what you want'

· Every word that needs explaining is a main entry
· All entries, whether for language, people and places or abbreviations, are included in the one alphabetical list

'It's easy to understand'

· Definitions are written in a clear explanatory style
· Meanings are numbered
· Modern meanings come first
· Specialist and technical meanings are labelled

'It includes everything you need'

· Spellings shown in full
· Usage notes for guidance
· Encyclopedic entries

'It's a great source of information'

· Dates are shown for people
· Population figures are shown for places
· Word histories shown the century the word entered English
· Pronunciations are shown in the International Phonetic Alphabet

Edition details

• Publisher: Collins
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0007109784
• ISBN 13: 9780007109784
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 5
• Number of pages: 1764