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The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first edition in 1884, traces the historical development of the English language, providing a comprehensive resource to ...
Far more than a convenient place to look up words and their origins, the Oxford English Dictionary is an irreplaceable part of English culture. It not only provides an important record of the evolution of our language, but also documents the continuing development of our society.
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is widely regarded as the accepted authority on the English language. It is an unsurpassed guide to the meaning, history, and usage of 500,000 words and phrases past and present, from across the English-speaking world.
Oxford English Dictionary. The historical English dictionary. An unsurpassed guide for researchers in any discipline to the meaning, history, and usage of over 500,000 words and phrases across the English-speaking world. Find out more about OED. Understanding entries. Glossaries, abbreviations, pronunciation guides, frequency, symbols, and more.
- Lucas Reilly
- The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) was built on volunteer labor. When the London Philological Society came up with the idea for a new dictionary of the English language in 1857, the editors decided it was necessary to enlist the help of the public and asked avid readers to send examples of sentences that could illuminate the meanings of different words.
- It took more than 70 years to complete the first edition of the OED. Originally, the Philological Society predicted that the dictionary would take about 10 years to complete.
- The OED started out messy. Very messy. Frederick Furnivall, one of the dictionary’s founders, was a visionary—but that vision did not extend to his organizational skills.
- OED co-founder Frederick Furnivall was a controversial figure. After founding a controversy-riddled Shakespeare Society, Furnivall fell into a six-year feud with the poet Algernon Charles Swinburne.
Oct 25, 2024 · The aim of the dictionary (as stated in the 1933 edition) is “to present in alphabetical series the words that have formed the English vocabulary from the time of the earliest records down to the present day, with all the relevant facts concerning their form, sense-history, and etymology.”
Apr 9, 2020 · The original Oxford English Dictionary took seven decades and the help of thousands of people across the world to create. It involved arguments and cost blow-outs — but today there's nothing ...
