The New Oxford Dictionary of English - Softcover

Pearsall, Judy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0198604416 ISBN 13: 9780198604419

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2001

Synopsis

This dictionary focuses on contemporary English as it is really used, informed by currently available evidence and the latest research. The dictionary places the most frequently used meanings of each word first, followed by secondary and technical senses, slang, idioms, and historical and obsolete senses. There are over 500 boxed usage notes, giving guidance on all aspects of the language and backed up by extensive analysis of the evidence. Featuring 350,000 words, phrases, and definitions, this dictionary offers comprehensive coverage of English as it is actually used in the 21st century.

About this title

Review

This is called the New Oxford Dictionary of English because it represents a new departure from the traditional Oxford approach. The book was largely written from scratch rather than being derived from previous Oxford dictionaries, and concentrates on the current core meanings of words and the relationship of other senses to this core, rather than a historical approach. There are no illustrations, but it follows its rivals in the big one-volume market by including encyclopaedic material on people and places. Thus "smolder", (the American spelling of "smoulder") is followed by:

Smolensk ... a city in western European Russia, on the River Dnieper close to the border with Belarus; pop.346,000 (1990).

Smollett ... Tobias (George) (1721-71), Scottish novelist. His humorous and fast-moving picaresque novels include The Adventures of Roderick Random (1748) and The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751).

The editors have made the text as user-friendly as they could, using as natural a style of language as possible in the definitions. The way words are used figuratively or in phrases is made particularly clear, with generous illustrative quotations and notes on usage. Even the etymologies are explained in flowing, jargon-free language, showing how a word developed from its original meaning to its current sense. The text has been printed in three columns, which some readers might not like, but this does mean that the printers have been able to leave slightly more space between each line than their rivals, making it probably the most readable dictionary of its size. --Julia Cresswell

About the Author

Judy Pearsall is Publishing Manager for English Dictionaries and Thesauruses at OUP.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0198604416
• ISBN 13: 9780198604419
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 2176