This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.
100 years after its first publication, the twelfth edition of this world-famous bestseller gives the most up-to-date picture of the English language today. The original 1911 edition, revolutionary at the time for its focus on current English and its use of illustrative examples, combined asuccinct yet approachable style with coverage of everyday as well as specialist terms. This centenary edition continues this ground-breaking tradition, giving you rich authoritative coverage of English as it is used today.The CD-ROM version of the dictionary offers full-text search functionality, instant look-up from WindowsRG documents, including email and the internet, and high-quality spoken pronunciations for thousands of words, making it ideal for family use, as well as for home, work, and school use. The CD-ROMis both WindowsRG and Mac compatible.… (more)
Though not as thorough as the Compact Oxford English Dictionary, this dictionary houses all the words most use in everyday situations. I found it to be an essential tool when writing. ( )
The book is designed as a dictionary, and not as an encyclopaedia; that is, the use of words and phrases as such are its subject-matter, and it is concerned with giving information about the things for which those words and phrases stand only so far as correct use of the words depends upon knowledge of the things.
Preface (1st ed., 1911).
In this sixth edition of the Concise Oxford Dictionary the changes made include revisions and additions resulting from a detailed scrutiny of the whole work, as well as modifications of typography and format to allow greater ease of use.
Preface (6th ed., 1975).
The preparation of the seventh edition of the Concise Oxford Dictionary has not involved such extensive changes as did that of the sixth, but consideration has nevertheless been given to several thousand points that have come to my attention since 1976, and many of these have led to further improvements and additions.
Preface (7th ed., 1981).
Abbreviations in general use (for example, those for the books of the Bible) appear in the dictionary itself.
Abbreviations and symbols used in the dictionary (7th ed., 1981).
This introduction is designed to help the reader understand the way in which information is presented in the Concise Oxford Dictionary, where, as the name suggests, compactness has been a primary aim.
A, a, (ā) n. (pl. AsorA's). first letter of alphabet; (Mus.) sixth note in diatonic scale of C major; first hypothetical person or example; highest class (of road, academic marks, population as regards affluence, etc.); from A to Z, over the entire range, completely; ...
Quotations
Last words
zȳ'murgȳn. branch of applied chemistry dealing with use of fermentation in brewing etc. [f. Gk zumē leaven, after metallurgy]
100 years after its first publication, the twelfth edition of this world-famous bestseller gives the most up-to-date picture of the English language today. The original 1911 edition, revolutionary at the time for its focus on current English and its use of illustrative examples, combined asuccinct yet approachable style with coverage of everyday as well as specialist terms. This centenary edition continues this ground-breaking tradition, giving you rich authoritative coverage of English as it is used today.The CD-ROM version of the dictionary offers full-text search functionality, instant look-up from WindowsRG documents, including email and the internet, and high-quality spoken pronunciations for thousands of words, making it ideal for family use, as well as for home, work, and school use. The CD-ROMis both WindowsRG and Mac compatible.