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These days, with tons of dictionaries on the Web, defining our terms - or even inventing them - is a breeze. Here's how to find words, make them up, or help define them.
These days, with tons of dictionaries on the Web, defining our terms - or even inventing them - is a breeze. Here's how to find words, make them up, or help define them.
One look. A search from this site scours Web dictionaries and translators. "No word is too obscure," the site promises. Indeed, we got nine references for one of our favorite, but rarely cited, words, "antidisestablishmentarianism." Among the hundreds of sources are the Online Etymology Dictionary and the Compact Oxford English Dictionary (see below).
OED history. The most definitive definitions in English come from the Oxford English Dictionary, or OED. The project was begun in 1857, but the editors had reached only the word "ant" after five years. It wasn't finished until 1928.
http://oed.com/about/history.html
Word crazy. One of the OED's main early contributors was the mysterious W.C. Minor, who mailed in thousands of definitions - from an asylum for the criminally insane. His is one of many odd tales of the volunteers who helped form the grand dictionary.
www.askoxford.com/worldofwords/oed/wordsearchers/
Your turn. After all these years, the OED continues to solicit contributions. Suggestions in recent years have included "e-mail bomb," and "Bo Derek" - a bond due to mature in 2010 (Derek starred in the movie 10). Here's how you might join in the fun:
http://dictionary.oed.com/readers/
research.html
Urban dictionary. Often outrageous (because anybody can add a word or reinterpret a definition), the Urban Dictionary is an ever-expanding lexicon of hip-speak, teen talk and tech lingo.