Oxford English Dictionary

Here is the perfect database for all those “word issues” in life – be it a need for a quotation for an assignment, the correct spelling for a crossword answer, or just curiosity about the history of a word. This database is so much more than a dictionary.

From the home page you can:
• Perform a word search in the quick search feature
• Browse the dictionary from A-Z
• Browse categories for words by subject, usage, region, or origin
• Browse timelines to see when a word entered the English language
• Browse sources to explore the top 1,000 authors and works quoted in the OED
• Browse the historical thesaurus of the OED contents
The “Sources” feature is useful because you can click on that option to see the list and then click on a link in blue, for example William Shakespeare, and then you can see from the results that there are quotes from his plays. Then if you click on Hamlet, for example, you will be taken to an alphabetical word list of results and then from there you can click to see a quotation from the play. You also will see other quotations that use the same word.
When you choose to click on “Historical thesaurus” you get a choice of three headings: the external world, the mind, and society. You then see a list of subheadings to choose from. These further sub-divide and each step you go down shows the link to the previous list. From the home page there is also “This month’s feature”. This is useful for seeing what is new to the site.

Also on the home page there is:
• A “word of the day” feature
• A list of newly added words. Words are embedded frequently; for example “podcasting” is now included
• A list of helpful resources

Overall, there is a huge amount of information on the site but it does take a bit of drilling down to access it. All you budding etymologists will enjoy!
To access this go to our “Databases”. Scroll down the alphabetical list and click on the “Oxford English Dictionary” link.

Vanessa