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Dictionary

''for other uses of "dictionary", see dictionary (disambiguation)

A dictionary is a list of words with their definitions, a list of characters with its glyph or a list of words with corresponding words in other languages. Many dictionaries also provide pronunciation information, word derivations, histories, or etymologies, illustrations, usage guidance, and examples in sentences.

Table of contents
1 Word order
2 Coverage
3 Special-purpose dictionaries
4 Variations between dictionaries
5 History
6 Miscellanea
7 List of major dictionaries
8 List of online dictionaries
9 List of collaborative dictionaries
10 Further reading
11 Related articles

Word order

Dictionaries of alphabetic languages list words in alphabetical order. With non-alphabetic languages, it may be different. The order in a dictionary with ideographic entries such as Chinese character is often troublesome and controversial because each character has different readings. Collation systems for logographs do exist. In Japanese and Korean, words containing Chinese characters (called Kanji in Japanese and Hanja in Korean) can be spelled in Hiragana and Hangul respectively, and so are inserted in their proper alphabetical order in dictionaries, alongside words not derived from Chinese characters. Furthermore, in entries for words derived from characters, the main entry words are spelled in Hiragana (for Japanese dictionaries) and Hangul (for Korean dictionaries), with the Chinese characters inserted in parentheses after each entry word.

Coverage

Some dictionaries contain more entry words than others in their word lists. A dictionary that attempts to cover as many words from a particular speech community as possible is called a maximizing dictionary (e.g. the Oxford English Dictionary), whereas a dictionary that attempts to cover only a limited selection of words from a speech community is called a minimizing dictionary (e.g. a dictionary containing the 2000 most frequently used words in the English language).

Special-purpose dictionaries

There are different types of dictionaries, including bilingual, multilingual, historical, biographical, and geographical dictionaries.

Bilingual dictionaries

In bilingual dictionaries, each entry has translations of words in other language. For example, in a Japanese-English dictionary, the entry tsuki has the corresponding English word, moon. In dictionaries between a language using a non-Roman script and English, entry words in the non-English language may either be printed and sorted in the native order, or romanized and sorted in Roman alphabetical order.

Specialized dictionaries

Specialized dictionaries (also referred to as technical dictionaries) focus on linguistic and factual matters relating to specific subject fields. A specialized dictionary may have a relatively broad coverage, in that it covers several subject fields such as science and technology (a multi-field dictionary), or their coverage may be more narrow, in that they cover one particular subject field such as law (a single-field dictionary) or even a specific sub-field such as contract law (a sub-field dictionary). Specialized dictionaries may be maximizing dictionaries, i.e. they attempt to achieve comprehensive coverage of the terms in the subject field concerned, or they may be minimizing dictionaries, i.e. they attempt to cover only a limited number of the specialized vocabulary concerned. Generally, multi-field dictionaries tend to be minimizing, whereas single-field and sub-field dictionaries tend to be maximizing. See also LSP dictionary.

Character dictionaries

In East-Asian languages, a dictionary specialized in Han (Chinese) characters has developed, called Kan-wa jiten (lit Han-Japanese dictionary) in Japanese and Okpyeon (literally, "Jewel Book") in Korean. Each entry has one Chinese character with the description about strokess, reading and a list of words using that character.

Glossaries

Another variant is the glossary, an alphabetical list of defined terms in a specialized field, such as medicine or science. The simplest dictionary, a defining dictionary, provides a core glossary of the simplest meanings of the simplest concepts. From these, other concepts can be explained and defined, in particular for those who are first learning a language. In English the commercial defining dictionaries typically include only one or two meanings of under 2000 words. With these, the rest of English, and even the 4000 most common English idioms and metaphors, can be defined.

Variations between dictionaries

Prescription and Description

Dictionaries come in two basic philosophies, prescriptive and descriptive. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is descriptive, and attempts to describe actual usage. Noah Webster, on the other hand, who was intent on forging a distinct identity for the American language changed the meanings and pronunciation of numerous words. This is the reason that American English has the spelling "color" while British English has the spelling "colour". (See American and British English differences.)

Most modern dictionaries are descriptive, although many, such as the American Heritage dictionaries make extensive efforts to provide information on the best usage, and almost all dictionaries provide some information on words considered erroneous, vulgar, or easily confused. In any case, in the long run, usage alone determines the meaning of words, although dictionaries provide conservative continuity, even the most descriptive.

Other variations

Since words and their meanings develop over time, dictionary entries are organized to reflect these changes. Dictionaries may either list meanings in the historical order in which they appeared, or may list meanings in order of popularity and most common use.

Dictionaries also differ in the degree to which they are encyclopedic, providing considerable background information, illustrations, and the like, or linguistic, concentrating on etymology, nuances of meaning, and quotations demonstrating usage.

Any dictionary has been designed to fulfil one or more functions. The dictionary functions chosen by the maker(s) of the dictionary provide the basis for all lexicographic decisions, from the selection of entry words, over the choice of information types, to the choice of place for the information (e.g. in an article or in an appendix). There are two main types of function. The communication-oriented functions comprise text reception (understanding), text production, text revision, and translation. The knowledge-oriented functions deal with situations where the dictionary is used for acquiring specific knowledge about a particular matter, and for acquiring general knowledge about something. The optimal dictionary is one that contains information directly relevant for the needs of the users relating to one or more of these functions. It is important that the information is presented in a way that keeps the lexicographic information costs at a minumum.

History

The art and craft of writing dictionaries is called lexicography. The first true English dictionary was the Table Alphabeticall of 1606, although it only included 3,000 words. The first one to be at all comprehensive was Thomas Blount's dictionary Glossographia of 1656. This was followed by Samuel Johnson's famous and more complete dictionary of 1755.

Noah Webster's dictionary was published by the G&C Merriam Company of Springfield, Massachusetts which still publishes Merriam-Webster dictionaries, but the term Webster's is considered generic and can be used by any dictionary.

Miscellanea

The Irish mathematical physicist, J. L. Synge, created a game, Game of Circ, to emphasize the circular reasoning implicit in the defining process of any standard dictionary.

List of major dictionaries

English

Japanese

Publishers

List of online dictionaries

  1. Online versions of printed dictionaries
  2. Online-only general dictionaries
  3. Dictionary Collections
  4. Specialty Dictionaries
  5. Multilingual Dictionaries
  6. Downloadable Dictionaries
The DICT protocol is a client/server model for dictionaries. Many free dictionaries are appearing in the dict format.

List of collaborative dictionaries

An open content dictionary project is the GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English (GCIDE). This dictionary uses Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) and WordNet as its sources and is being developed collaboratively under the terms of the GNU General Public License. It describes itself as "a freely-available set of ASCII files containing the marked-up text of a substantial English dictionary". Other collaborative dictionary projects:

  • EDICT Digital Japanese-English dictionary.
  • Everything2 Contains, among other things, an entire Webster 1913 dictionary.
  • freedict Bilingual dictionaries, released under the GPL.
  • PseudoDictionary New coinages and unusual words, mostly slang.
  • Urban Dictionary Slang dictionary.
  • Wiktionary Wikipedia's sister project.

See also: DICT, the dictionary server protocol

Further reading

  • Manual of Specialised Lexicography, Henning Bergenholtz/Sven Tarp (eds.), Benjamins Publishing, 1995
  • The Bilingual LSP Dictionary, Sandro Nielsen, Gunter Narr Verlag 1994
  • Dictionaries, The Art and Craft of Lexicography, Sidney I. Landau, Simon & Schuster, 1998, hardcover, ISBN 0684180960
  • The Professor and the Madman, A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary, Simon Winchester, HarperPerennial, New York, 1998, trade paperback, ISBN 0-06-017596-6. (published in the UK as The Surgeon of Crowthorne)

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OneLook Dictionaries
Look up a word or term in an Internet dictionary or glossary. Free search access to a frequently updated database of words, terms, names, and acronyms.
http://www.onelook.com/

Merriam-Webster OnLine
A free, searchable on-line dictionary and thesaurus, word games, a word of the day, and many other English language and vocabulary reference tools and resources.
http://www.m-w.com/

The Online Dictionary List
A large directory of online dictionaries, both in English and bilingual, including specialist dictionaries.
http://www.clearenglish.net/dictionary.htm

Dictionary Link
A directory of free online language resources such as dictionaries, thesauruses, language translators, and encyclopedias.
http://www.dictionarylink.com/

1000Dictionaries.com
Links to online language dictionaries and subject dictionaries.
http://www.1000dictionaries.com/

Cynic's Dictionary
Irreverent and amusing definitions.
http://www.bookmate.biz/cynics.htm

Word Assault
Looks up multiple words simultaneously using several databases including Webster's, Easton's, Wordnet, and the Devil's Dictionary.
http://www.wordassault.com/

Word Central
Student dictionary and rhyming dictionary online at Merriam-Webster's website. Daily Buzzword by subscription.
http://www.wordcentral.com/

Cambridge International Dictionaries
Free online dictionary from Cambridge University Press.
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/

Research-It
Includes several dictionaries and a thesaurus as well as online tools for shipping and mailing, currency exchange, and language translation.
http://www.iTools.com/

AllDictionaries.com
Categorized index of language and subject dictionaries.
http://www.alldictionaries.com/

Dictionary Building Software for Reporters
Software program for realtime reporters and captioners that lists many diverse vocabulary lists.
http://www.dictionaryjumpstart.com/

Cooldictionary.com
Free edition of a complete Webster dictionary. Fully crosslinked.
http://www.cooldictionary.com/

Skeptic's Dictionary
Skeptical definitions and essays on occult, paranormal, supernatural and pseudoscientific ideas and practices with references to the best skeptical literature.
http://skepdic.com/

Information Please Dictionary
Infoplease's free online dictionary. Features almanacs, an encyclopedia, and an atlas.
http://www.infoplease.com/dictionary.html

Dictionary Society of North America
An international organization of librarians, booksellers, translators, linguists, publishers, writers, journalists, and collectors. Founded in 1975 to further research in dictionary making, study, collection, and use. Member of the American Council of Learned Societies.
http://polyglot.lss.wisc.edu/dsna/index.html

Quotations: The Yale Dictionary
Project to create an searchable online database and a quotation dictionary from Yale University Press.
http://quotationdictionary.com/

High Definition Dictionary
Mixed collection of drug terminology with an apparently arbitrarily selected mix of other, unrelated terms. Dictionary accepts contributions of new terms.
http://hdd.rox.com/

The Century Dictionary Online
Free 500,000 word dictionary of English with an encyclopedia and world atlas. Uses DjVu and JPEG formats to display page images. Has headword lookup and full text search of 22 million words of underlying text.
http://www.global-language.com/CENTURY/

Dictionary of Comprehension
A Dictionary of Comprehension in different languages.
http://www.dictionarydictionary.com/

The Alternative Dictionaries
Includes a list of slang terms and phrases in various languages.
http://www.notam02.no/~hcholm/altlang/

Lighting Design Terminology
Explanations of terms used in architectural lighting and lighting simulation.
http://www.schorsch.com/kbase/glossary/

Word Spy
Site dedicated to recently coined words and existing words revived into modern usage.
http://www.wordspy.com/

DICT Development Group
A WWW interface to several freely available on-line dictionaries, including Webster's 1913, the Jargon File, the US Gazetteer, and Easton's Bible Dictionary.
http://www.dict.org/

Hypertext Webster Gateway
WWW interface to multiple English dictionaries.
http://smac.ucsd.edu/cgi-bin/http_webster?

The Newbury House Online Dictionary
Search over 40,000 entries to get clear concise definitions and when available related pictures.
http://nhd.heinle.com/

Strange Dictionaries
Free online versions of the Dictionary of One-Letter Words, the Dictionary of All-Vowel Words, the Dictionary of All-Consonant Words, and other strange dictionary resources.
http://www.blueray.com/dictionary/

The Superhero Dictionary
Each entry compares a superhero's name with its real life meaning and includes comparison pictures and pronunciations.
http://SHDictionary.tripod.com/

Dictionary of Difficult Words
Search or browse this dictionary of more than 13,000 words.
http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/dictionaries/difficultwords/

AllWords.com
Features two modern English dictionaries, multilingual search, and translation. Also features a guide to language sites on the web and a language discussion forum.
http://www.allwords.com/

Worthless Word for the Day
Obscure, abstruse and/or recondite word, especially one not falling into medical terms, foreign monetary units, foreign units of measure, legal terms, or professional jargon of any type.
http://members.aol.com/tsuwm/

A-Z-Dictionaries
Descriptions and links to free online dictionaries, the Merriam-Webster dictionary, electronic dictionary products, dictionary downloads and software and ideas for saving money.
http://a-z-dictionaries.com/

Bin's On-Line Dictionary
Search various on-line dictionaries.
http://language.bin.org/ref/dict/

Collection of Web-Dictionaries
Sorted list of online dictionaries of more than 50 languages, mostly bilingual.
http://www.leo.org/~mike/dictionaries.html

Dictionaries, Lexica and Lexical Resources
Collection of links to various online dictionaries and other lexical references.
http://www.sil.org/linguistics/etext.html#dictionaries

Dictionaries on the Web
Link collection -- over 100 links to various dictionaries of about 40 languages.
http://www.helsinki.fi/~hkantola/dict.html

Frank Dietz's Glossary Links
Directory of over 2200 links to glossaries, most of which are in English or German.
http://frankdietz.com/glossary.htm

Digital Media Knowledge Base
Free service including dictionary search and tutorials on web development tools.
http://www.hansenmedia.com/

EZresearch.com
Provides a directory of dictionaries.
http://www.ezresearch.com/reference/dict.html

Free Dictionary and Free Translation
Collection of free dictionaries and translation sites. Supports searching all dictionaries with just one mouse click.
http://www.stars21.com/freemorn/index.html

Dictionary.com
Free online dictionary search, translator, word of the day, crossword puzzles and word games, and vocabulary learning resources for many languages.
http://dictionary.reference.com/

Dictionaries and Translation
List of links to dictionaries on the Internet.
http://www.english-online.net/eolweb/viewcategorylinks.asp?category_id=21

Campus Program: Language Dictionaries
A compilation of a large number of dictionary websites grouped by language.
http://campusprogram.com/research/dictionaries/language/

Dictsearch
Search a variety of dictionaries including monolingual, bilingual, and specialty dictionaries.
http://www.foreignword.com/Tools/dictsrch.htm

Glossaries
Collection of more than 2000 links to glossaries and dictionaries.
http://www.jump.net/~fdietz/glossary.htm

The Glossarist
Searchable directory of glossaries and topical dictionaries containing terms and definitions on hundreds of subjects.
http://www.glossarist.com/

KnowPlay?
Simple and integrated access to dictionaries, thesauri, encylopedias, and quotation databases.
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Text-only online dictionary directory of language (e.g. English, French and Spanish) and subject (e.g. Science, Computer and Medical) dictionaries.
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Searchable directory of bilingual and multilingual dictionaries.
http://www.lexicool.com/

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Online specialty dictionaries for English, Russian, German, Finnish and Latin.
http://www.ets.ru/udict-e.htm

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A collection of reference tools.
http://www.searchbug.com/reference/

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Online dictionary and thesaurus web linking lookup reference tool.
http://www.voycabulary.com/

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More than 1682 separate glossaries, linked by topic and by ISO 639-2 language codes.
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http://www.yourdictionary.com/

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http://www.esldesk.com/dictionaries/index.htm

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Directory of multilingual dictionaries and dictionaries on specific subjects, alphabetized by language.
http://www.lai.com/glossaries.html

Eurodicautom
The European Commission's multilingual term bank. Particularly rich in technical and specialized terminology related to European Union policy.
http://europa.eu.int/eurodicautom/Controller

Terminological Information System
A simplified version of the European Union terminological database.
http://tis.consilium.eu.int/defaultEN.htm

Planet Translation
Directory of dictionaries, including unilingual, multilingual, and topical resources.
http://planettranslation.com/

Globalization.com: On-line Dictionaries and Glossaries for Translators
Directory of monolingual, bilingual, and multilingual dictionaries and glossaries, arranged by language.
http://www.globalization.com/PortalInfoTree/index.cfm?page_id=1304

HyperDictionary.com
Includes a thesaurus and searchable dictionaries for English, computers, dreams and medicine.
http://www.hyperdictionary.com/

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Allows users to search, free of charge, for entries in the latest (year 2000) edition of the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
http://www.oup.com/elt/oald/


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