Dictionary

What is a dictionary?

• A book containing a selection of words of a language or of some special subjects arranged alphabetically with explanation about them.

• Unabridged Dictionaries: contains 265 000 of words and more.

• Unabridged dictionaries are the most scholarly and comprehensive of all dictionaries, sometimes consisting of many volumes.

• They emphasize the history of words and the variety of their uses.

Example of Unabridged Dictionaries

• Webster’s 3rd new international dictionary. 1961• The random house dictionary.• The Oxford English Dictionary, (20 volumes)• The Random House Dictionary of the English

Language• Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the

English Language

Unabridged Dictionaries

• Abridged dictionaries, often called desk dictionaries, list 150,000 to 250,000 words and concentrate largely on fairly common words and meanings. A good desk dictionary will serve most reference needs for writing or reading.

Example of Abridged dictionaries

• The American heritage dictionary• Webster’s new collegiate dictionary • Webster’s new world dictionary of American

language • The random house college dictionary

Reduced- Word dictionaries

• Limited to under 60,000 words

Oxford American dictionary ( 30,000 WORDS)

SPECIALIZED DICTIONARES

• specialized dictionary is a dictionary that covers a relatively restricted set of phenomena

EXAMPLE OF SPECIALIZED DICTIONARY

• Dictionary of American regional English

• The random house cross- word puzzle dictionary

SPECIALIZED DICTIONARY

Etymological/ diachronic dictionary

• The diachronic or historical dictionary has a special class in it which can be called etymological.

• Shows and gives history of words

• An etymological dictionary traces a word's development over time, giving historical examples to show changes.

Example of Etymological/ diachronic dictionary

• Oxford English dictionary

• Ancient Greek Etymological Dictionary

• Afroasiatic Etymological Dictionary

Example of Etymological/ diachronic dictionary

Slang dictionaries • Reasons for importance• Indicates the variations of meanings of a

given slang terms of words and to trace thier history

• Defines all expression well• Aids authors in finding words which will covey

the background , class, or occupation of a given character

• Just for pain curiosity and interest

Example of slang dictionaries:

• dictionary of American slang• Thesaurus of slang• New dictionary of American slang

Example of slang dictionaries

Synonyms and Antonyms

• Synonym- a word with the same/similar meaning

• Antonym- words that mean the opposite

Example

• Roget’s international thesaurus

• Roget’s thesaurus of English of words and phrases

• Webster collegiate thesaurus

• Webter’s new dictionary for synonym

Dictionaries f abbreviations and acronyms

Subject dictionaries

• Explain particular meanings for particular words/ terms for professions, occupation, or areas of subject interest.

Example

• Harrod’s Librarians Glossary Terms

• ALA Glossary of Librarian and Information Science

Subject dictionaries

Foreign language dictionaries

• The cassel’s series

• Dictionary of foreign phrases and abbreviations

• Larrousse also publishes dictionaries

Foreign language dictionaries

Biographical sources

• Biographical dictionaries – ESSAY FORM

• Biographical directories – PROVIDE DATA

IMPORANT GENERAL SOURCES

• CURRENT BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARIES

• Current biography

• The New York time biographical service

• Newsmaker ( GALE RESEARCH CO.)

RETROSPECTIVE BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARIES

• a work containing information about the lives and work of various persons, usually listed alphabetically; some dictionaries classify persons by time period or descriptive category.

EXAMPLE

• MC gram hill encyclopedia of word biography

• Webter’s new biographical dictionary

• New century cyclopedia of names

RETROSPECTIVE BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARIES

Retrospective biographical dictionaries- NATIONAL

• Dictionary of American Biography

• Dictionary of American Negro Biography

• Who Was Who – Britain

• Who Was Who in America: Historical Volume 1607-1896

Retrospective biographical dictionaries- NATIONAL