The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary

by Lesley Brown (editor)

For the past sixty-five years, the massive Oxford English Dictionary has offered the last word on the English language. Now, Oxford University Press is pleased to announce a landmark new dictionary--The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary--that brings the authority of the Oxford Dictionary Department and the vast scholarship of the OED itself within the reach of individuals.
This completely new dictionary covers virtually every word or phrase in use in English--worldwide--since 1700. Not strictly an abridgment of the OED, the New Shorter draws on the OED's ongoing revision as well as its own independent research program. Each entry provides all the information you would expect from a leading unabridged dictionary: it identifies each word's various meanings, origins, part of speech, pronunciation (in the International Phonetic Alphabet), and combinations in which the word is often found, as well as cross-references to related words. The New Shorter, however, offers something that no competitor can match: the historical, literary approach made justly famous by the OED. Thousands upon thousands of changing meanings are followed through history, illustrated by more than 83,000 quotations, from Ben Franklin to Lord Byron, from Jane Austen to Kazuo Ishiguro. The changing emphasis in the meaning of fiend, for instance, is shown by quotes ranging from Milton ("The Gates...belching outrageous flame...since the Fiend pass'd through") to J.D. Salinger ("Old Brossard was a bridge fiend, and he started looking around the dorm for a game").
The historical approach of The New Shorter offers a true feel for our rich, subtly textured language. Words are a palimpsest: along with their current meanings, many words contain the shadows of their past definitions. Understanding a word's history can help writers and speakers charge their language with nuance as well as precision. The New Shorter offers a delightful introduction to the fruits of etymology, providing a fascinating guide to the evolution of language--for both scholars and those who need a practical aid to contemporary usage.
In addition, The New Shorter offers truly international--and up-to-date--coverage. Every year, the Oxford Dictionary Department receives more than 200,000 notices of new words and meanings. These notices come from the United States, Great Britain, Australia, Canada, South Africa, India--everywhere English is spoken. As a result, this two-volume work boasts an unprecedented range of headwords and meanings, drawn from the arts and humanities as well as the sciences and technology. From molecular biology to computer software, from human anthropology to theoretical physics, the subjects covered in this dictionary make it a useful resource for scientific professionals--and for the unscientific struggling with technical terms.
The result is the world's most comprehensive, thorough, up-to-date dictionary of English. A fascinating and endlessly browsable reference, The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary provides the definitive resource for scholars, professionals, general readers--for anyone, in fact, who wants the wealth of language available only in an unabridged dictionary.
FEATURES: The immense scholarship of the Oxford English Dictionary-- Brought within reach of everyone:
* 2 Volumes
* 500,000 definitions
* 7.5 million words
* 4,000 pages
* 97,600 headwords
* 25,250 variant spellings
* 87,400 illustrative quotations
* 7,333 sources of quotations
(including 5,519 individual authors)

Combines information from the OED with the work of a massive research project, offering thousands of fresh entries and new definitions

Up-to-the-minute coverage of English--reaching back to 1700--with thousands of new words from a worldwide monitoring program

Thorough, completely current scientific coverage

Traces the etymology and evolution of thousands of worlds (candidate, for instance, stems from a Latin word meaning "clothed un white," as Roman candidates for public office dressed in white togas)

A two convenient volumes, with full-size type

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

3836 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Aldean · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most fantastic investments I have ever made. The bulk of my high school graduation gift money went to ordering this two-volume treasure directly from the publisher (it was on sale!) and solidifying the Anglophiliac bent to my logomania.

I won't go so far as to say this is THE dictionary for personal use (I haven't tried them all yet), but it is right up there, especially for people who need authoritative access to a vast array of words at all hours of the day and night. In twelve years of heavy use I can recall only twice where I failed to find a ridiculously-obscure word within these covers, which is a track record that I am completely satisfied with. The binding has held up very well, and it is still sufficiently manageable for my wife and I to cuddle around on a lazy Saturday morning.

My only real complaint: the lack of syllabication. In most of my prose I shun hyphenation, but when I was desktop-publishing a newsletter it was essential to be able to squeeze my verbosity into columns, and these tomes offered me no assistance. A minor quibble, but it does mar the perfection a tiny bit.

There may be a better dictionary for me out there yet, but even if I could find it, I can't imagine I could afford to own it.

[Hans Dunkelberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I often wonder how I could endure life without possessing this dictionary. It affords really clear explanations of what a word means, wonderful examples on how a word has been used by notable authors, and convincing hints at a word's age, commonness, and style. The one with a really serious interest in English will often fail to find out about finer nuances, but it's clear that in such cases, the culprit is English and its complexity rather than this book.

[Jonny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the dictionary set that EVERY home should have. Complete enough for even an ardent bibliophile without being either the staggering investment or the spatial commitment of the 25+ volume set.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Constant two volume reference always near. Compact OED.
A wonderful reference book a shorter version of the massive Oxford English Dictionary.