Concise Oxford English Dictionary

by Oxford Dictionaries

Authoritative and up to date, the Concise Oxford English Dictionary offers unsurpassed coverage of English, perfect for anyone who needs a handy, reliable resource for home, school, or office.

The Concise Oxford English Dictionary is one of the most popular choices in Oxford's renowned dictionary line. Now in print through its various editions for a century it has been selected by decades of users for its up-to-date and authoritative coverage of the English language.

This centenary edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary presents the most accurate picture of English today. It contains over 240,000 words, phrases, and definitions, providing superb coverage of contemporary English, including rare, historical, and archaic terms, scientific and technical vocabulary, and English from around the world. The dictionary has been updated with hundreds of new words--including sub-prime, social networking, and carbon footprint--all based on the latest research from the Oxford English Corpus. In addition, the dictionary features an engaging new center section, with quick-reference word lists (containing, for example, lists of Fascinating Words and Onomatopoeic Words), and a revised and updated English Uncovered supplement, which examines interesting facts about the English language. Sprinkled throughout the text are intriguing Word Histories, detailing the origins and development of numerous words. The volume also retains such popular features as the hundreds of usage notes which give advice on tricky vocabulary and pointers to help you improve your use of English. Finally, the dictionary contains full appendices on topics such as alphabets, currencies, electronic English, and the registers of language (from formal to slang), plus a useful Guide to Good English with advice on grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

Genres: Reference, Nonfiction, Language, Dictionaries, Writing, Linguistics, British Literature

1728 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1911

Reviews

[Debbie Zapata]

Naturally I have not read this cover to cover, but like with a few other reference books I have, I wanted to mark it down.

I ordered this because I missed being able to look up a word and then snoop around for other words that were on the same page as my word.

The online dictionary I use is great, but I miss the way a print dictionary looks and feels. My edition arrived in today's mail, and I will be keeping it close for lots of exploring!

[Heeshy]

A bit of a disjointed and wordy story about an Aardvark who goes through many, many random adventures as he searches for a xylophone that he can take to his friend the zebra at a zoo.

[Richard Thomas]

I suppose through habit and school, this is my dictionary of first resort - I do own four others including the Shorter Oxford. It is accessible, sensible in its definitions and in the main authoritative.

[Me. Not you; me.]

i guess i'll never be able to summarize this book.

[Jared]

Brilliant! One word comes after the other, just like you'd want it to!

[Jennifer]

Can't beat it for an up-to-date dictionary at a decent price.

"Turns out the zebra did it."

[Rebecca]

This was a very good dictionary. It was simpler than the regular Oxford dictionary, rarely using words that I had to define in the definitions of other words. This edition is from 2009, but that didn’t make it outdated, since this dictionary contained useful modern terminology about things like computers, while leaving out hateful neologisms like “twerk”. Additionally, this dictionary also contained whimsies like a history of the Oxford dictionary, a list of collective nouns, and another list of words and phrases of foreign origin. Like all dictionaries, I haven’t read the whole thing, but what I have read is superb.

[Leslie B.]

I picked up my first copy in Europe and by their standards, there is no other!

[HH]

MB - NL

[Atul Dubey]

Excellent Book

[Khalid E.]

I unironically read this cover-to-cover. Why don't people do this more often? It's literally the dictionary!

[Lynda]

Mine copy didn't have the CD with it, but in every other way this is the edition I have.

I use this one most, and like the clear, concise, meanings in plain English.

But I also have the Shorter Oxford dictionary as well if I wish to look deeper for shades of meaning, perhaps in older texts where the meaning may have changed over time. That version does have a CD-Rom, which is brilliant too, especially as it provides pronunciation. It is here I go browsing words

And yes I have another as well, but this one sits on my beside table with books I'm currently reading and I tend to pick it up in case I need to look up something, so is in frequent use.

[Sue]

My son gave me this dictionary for Christmas to replace the awful one we have been using the past nine or ten years. Word origins and phrases are included, which is exactly what I wanted. Recently I looked up the word "plashy" as it was used in a poem, and while the old dictionary did not contain this word, the new Oxford dictionary did. Additionally, the Oxford dictionary has interesting appendices such as Prime Ministers and Presidents. Out with the old dictionary and in with the new!

[Rebecca]

This special edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary was made for that dictionary’s one hundredth anniversary. Fittingly, there were special additions made, such as an explanation of the dictionary’s history, and some boxes underneath words that show how the word meaning has changed in a century. The vocabulary was updated for 2011, but this dictionary is still as accurate as ever.

[Ann M]

Good desk reference.

[Jenny]

The best part about the Oxford is that it shows the pronunciation phonetically, instead of using those stupid symbols, the name of which has escaped me since undergrad English.

[Todd]

Lots of words... explained.

[Susannah]

my new years resolution will be to read the dictionary the whole way through!

[Brigid Primrose]

Always near me and always teaching me. Best book ever.

[Ellen]

Best Eng. dictionary ever! I have a very old copy of it, and use it frequently.

[Rachel]

Before Auto-Correct, this book saved my life.

[Steve Clark]

Hardcover

[Tiffany Conner]

Sometimes, I just like to read words. That's all. Words and what they mean. Am I weird?

[Christine]

This one's a must for the writer who expects to market internationally.

[Salvatore Familia]

In it's tenth edition, the world's most popular dictionary has undergone a most thorough revision. More than 200,000 clear, concise entries define a vast array of ideas and words with highlighted usage notes and maps.