Questions about English dictionaries
0
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2answers
89 views
List of your first 1000 english words [closed]
I'm looking for a way to teach English vocabulary to my kids. I wanted to have a list of the most useful and common words to know when you start to learn a language.
Is there any website where a list ...
0
votes
3answers
168 views
When could you take the “Urban Dictionary” seriously? [closed]
I have always had a serious problem with Urban Dictionary as I do not know when to take it seriously and when not! Sometimes it seems very useful to me to understand what ordinary people on the ...
0
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0answers
25 views
could you recommend an English dictionary for me? [closed]
English is my second language, and my vocabularies is about 2000-3000. Now, I want to buy an English dictionary. After searching for some hours, Colins, Oxford and Longman will be my choice.
Could ...
0
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0answers
63 views
Where can I find an English dictionary that can be used as reference? [duplicate]
I usually use Google Translate to translate from my language into English and vice versa. But sometimes the translation is not right as words have different meanings depending on context, or maybe the ...
3
votes
3answers
148 views
What part of speech is “methinks”?
Dictionaries call this word a verb, but it doesn't seem to behave like any other verb in the English language. Another question on this site calls it a “conjoined pronoun-verb combination”, which ...
6
votes
3answers
976 views
“Smooths” versus “Smoothes”
I am interested in the rapid rise (since about 1993) in frequency of the spelling smoothes as against smooths.
An Ngram Viewer graph tracking the frequency of usage of the two words from 1800 to ...
5
votes
5answers
2k views
Why is “ain't” not listed in dictionaries?
Google finds 52,000,000 matches for ain't but non-natives simply can't look up this word. Wiktionary isn't helpful.
Is it some kind of 'wildcard' for am/is/are not?
1
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3answers
393 views
Creating a new word
If you invent a new word, how do you go about getting this recognised as a real word in dictionaries?
1
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2answers
385 views
Is the word “encomprise” used in modern English? [closed]
If one googles the word encomprises, there are 5K+ pages, that have this word. I personally have heard people in the USA use it with a meaning of include.
Official dictionaries, on the other hand, ...
3
votes
1answer
279 views
Do any print dictionaries admit “everytime” as a word?
I've noticed a tendency for more and more two-word phrases with even slightly idiomatic usage being written more and more as single word compounds. Today when I came across "everytime" written as a ...
5
votes
3answers
204 views
Why isn’t “hermeticity” easily found in the dictionaries?
The word hermeticity as (for the lack of better definition, hence the question) “the quality of being hermetic” (not to be confused with mathematical hermiticity, which is also absent from the general ...
25
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3answers
1k views
Regulatory bodies and authoritative dictionaries for English
Some languages have a "regulatory body" issuing recommendations and guidelines regarding the use of that language.
For example in the case of Spanish it's the Real Academia Española whose status is ...
1
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3answers
1k views
When does a word become a 'word'? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Creating a new word
The rule of thumb used to be that when a word hit the Oxford Dictionary, it was considered to be an accepted word - this, however, seems to have ...
8
votes
3answers
345 views
Is 'compatriate' really an English word?
I recently saw the word 'compatriate' used in a newspaper article. Upon looking it up, suspecting a typo (or even an eggcorn: it is easy to see how compatriot would be mixed-up with expatriate etc.), ...
3
votes
2answers
139 views
Is esquivalience now a bona fide word?
Today, I came across WP's entry for the word esquivalience:
"Esquivalience" is a fictitious entry in the New Oxford American Dictionary (NOAD), which was designed and included to protect copyright ...
19
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5answers
981 views
Is “iff” considered a real word or just an abbreviation?
I wonder if "iff" is considered a real word (as LEO says) or is it just an abbreviation (as in Wiktionary)?
0
votes
1answer
54 views
Why are dictionary definitions for verbs prefixed with a 'To'?
I look up a dictionary for allow and I get
To permit
To assign
To grant or give, esp periodically
To concede or acknowledge
Similarly for flow, I see
to run
to move or change form like a fluid
...
4
votes
3answers
475 views
Which flavor of English (British vs. American) first had standard modern spellings?
Which flavor, British English or American English, first standardised its modern spellings?
I'm mostly interested in the direction of alteration; for example, was the u dropped from colour or was the ...
-3
votes
4answers
1k views
What's another way of saying “supposed to graduate in 2013”? [closed]
I am filling out a job application and I know there's an official word for it, but I just can't think of it. It can normally be found on transcripts.
3
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0answers
51 views
I am in search of a good dictionary (meanings/definitions) with American IPA pronunciation… Any suggestions? [closed]
I am in search of a good dictionary (meanings, definitions, etymology) with American IPA pronunciation. Any suggestions?
Thank You!
-2
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3answers
65 views
Does “to differ” have an antonym? [closed]
The antonym of different is similar. What is the antonym of to differ? I would love it if to similate were a word.
1
vote
3answers
147 views
Descent, Ancestry, Lineage
Please help me with the words 'descent', 'ancestry', and 'lineage'. Dictionaries show that they are loosely the same:
1a. He has German descent.
1b. He is of German descent.
2a. He has ...
0
votes
1answer
75 views
Verb for creating an icon
I am having some difficulty wording a title for a paper of mine. I am going for something like, "Automatic text iconification". Which means an automatic method of giving text a symbolic ...
5
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1answer
342 views
Is it all right to use “in hopes of” to mean “with the aim of”?
Recently I browsed through the definition of hope in New Oxford American Dictionary (provided by Apple in the dictionary app) to double confirm with its usage as I answered a word-choice question and ...
0
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0answers
19 views
Which is the definitive reference for the English language [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Regulatory bodies and authoritative dictionaries for English
What are your favorite English language tools?
This should be a reference for word meaning and usage, which ...
5
votes
3answers
244 views
Source for etymological study
It has always been interesting for me to know how words are made and where they are coming from. Is there any reliable source for etymological studies? any books, or dictionaries out there?
8
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7answers
1k views
What does “akin to” mean in etymologies in dictionary entries?
Many etymologies in dictionaries say that some word is “akin to” a word in some other language. For example, here is part of the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary entry for salt:
Main Entry: 1salt ...
7
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4answers
5k views
Syllable division of VCV pattern in words such as “salad” and “lemon”
In words such as salad /sæləd/, you have a VCV pattern (vowel-consonant-vowel), in which the first vowel is short. The syllable division of such words is generally done after the consonant, i.e, as ...
0
votes
0answers
32 views
What is best dictionary software which helps me to depend less on SE? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What are your favorite English language tools?
Regulatory bodies and authoritative dictionaries for English
While I am surfing through this ELL SE, I have found that ...
1
vote
4answers
147 views
What is the adverbial form of “communicational”?
I tried communicationally, but the Free Dictionary doesn’t find it to be a word.
What I am trying to express is that someone is communicationally challenged, basically meaning they can’t communicate ...
1
vote
0answers
42 views
How are words added to the Oxford Dictionary? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is there an ‘official’ way to suggest a new word become part of the English language?
What are the criteria to adopt new words into English?
Creating a new word
...
1
vote
0answers
38 views
How can you submit a new word for inclusion in a dictionary? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is there an ‘official’ way to suggest a new word become part of the English language?
If I happened to have coined a few words that I find could be of practical value to ...
11
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2answers
747 views
How and when did American spelling supersede British spelling in the US?
Considering that Webster published his first dictionary in 1806, is there a recognised tipping point (year, decade, etc.) that marked the move from traditional British spelling to Webster's American? ...
2
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0answers
325 views
Why do you think the Oxford English Dictionary changed their definition of “of?” [closed]
Of 'of': Expressing Possession and Being Possessed
I would like to discuss changes made to the definition of 'of' in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) from the 1989 edition to the 2010 edition. ...
0
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3answers
130 views
How can dictionaries be tyrants? [closed]
Sometimes you might hear the phrase, tyranny of the dictionary Is there a way to express succinctly just what that means?
4
votes
2answers
404 views
Why some abbreviations ended with a period, but some not?
I have just bought an Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
This is it's first page showing some abbreviations used in the dictionary.
My question is: why some abbreviations ended with a period ...
3
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2answers
196 views
Order of definitions in dictionaries
Are dictionary definitions for words with multiple meanings ordered based on chronology, hierarchy, or frequency of usage? Is/was there a standard format?
8
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3answers
394 views
Different syllabic boundaries in various dictionaries?
Consider, for instance, the word "university":
American Heritage: u·ni·ver·si·ty
Collins Cobuild: uni|ver|sity
Merriam Webster: uni·ver·si·ty
As you see, syllabic boundaries differ.
I read ...
4
votes
1answer
77 views
Where does “acutilobate” originate from?
I see the claim that acutilobate is a “dictionary-only” word, for example seen in the 1913 Webster’s dictionary. How would a word get into a dictionary that only appears in dictionaries and is not ...
3
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2answers
183 views
What is a “sounds like” thesaurus called?
A dictionary contains word definitions.
A thesaurus contains words that mean the same (synonyms).
I'm looking for a name for a word dictionary that will give you rhymes (or "sounds like") of a word.
...
-3
votes
1answer
114 views
online free dictionary of choice? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What are your favorite English language tools?
This may seem like a meta question but I feel it is really about English Language and Usage.
What is the preferred online ...
4
votes
3answers
233 views
What were the British equivalents of Webster's dictionary and the Simplified Spelling Board that standardized spelling and usage?
I am familiar with questions about when to double 'l' and differences between British and American spellings. However, I stumbled across this image.
As you can see, several words end in the double ...
2
votes
1answer
140 views
What is student discussion place called? [closed]
Is there any English (or in other languages) word for a place where students of different colleges discuss about activities (events, reputation) of their colleges/universities
6
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2answers
2k views
Why are “scaring” and “scarring” confused by some dictionaries? [closed]
Scaring is related to the word scare, while scarring is related to the word scar.
Why is it that some dictionaries get these two words confused?
For example, when you use Mac OS X Lion's lookup ...
11
votes
4answers
2k views
Is “criterions” a valid plural for “criterion”?
Is criterions a valid plural for criterion?
Dictionary.com says it is, but Oxford does not confirm or reject it.
1
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0answers
59 views
Any good phrasal dictionaries? [closed]
I think I'm supposed to have a phrasal dictionary while learning English.
E-books and paper-formed are both welcome.
Any advice?
7
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4answers
2k views
What is the best paper-based dictionary? [closed]
I'd like to have a dictionary in paper that won't be very big, at least there should be one tome, and it should be something like thefreedictionary.com but in paper, to use it offline.
Please advise.
4
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4answers
770 views
Is there any online phrase dictionary available?
I use WordWeb which is available online for vocabulary. But, is there any equivalent for getting the meaning and origin of phrases ?
0
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0answers
37 views
Most famous/authentic dictionaries? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Regulatory bodies and authoritative dictionaries for English
What are the most famous or authentic dictionaries?
I mean- One can use a dictionary to learn about the ...
11
votes
4answers
683 views
Where can I obtain an English dictionary with structured data?
I would like to download an English dictionary -- not just a word list -- in a structured format such as TXT, XML, or SQL.
Specifically, I need phonetic pronunciation and parts of speech (definition ...
