Shorter Oxford English Dictionary
Price:
$175.00 (02)Description
Here is a new edition of the acclaimed Shorter Oxford English Dictionary , the first since 2002, updated, enlarged, and enlivened by new words, new definitions of old words, new illustrative quotations--and a new, fully customizable CD-ROM.If the 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary is the mother of all dictionaries, the Shorter is its most accomplished offspring. At one-tenth the size of OED--and a fraction of the price--the Shorter offers one-third the content and the same quality of lexical excellence of its parent dictionary. Indeed, no other dictionary, apart from the OED itself, comes close to the Shorter's range and depth, offering over 500,000 definitions that cover virtually every word or phrase in use in English--worldwide--since 1700. Each entry offers everything you would expect from a leading unabridged dictionary: it identifies each word's various meanings, origins, part of speech, pronunciation, and combinations in which the word is often found, as well as cross-references to related words. The Shorter , however, offers something that no competitor can match: the historical, literary approach made justly famous by the OED. Thousand upon thousands of changing meanings are followed throughout history, illustrated by 85,000 quotations from 7,000 authors.
And now, with 2,500 new words and 500 new quotations, the Shorter is fresher than ever, fully responsive to ever-changing English language.
The SOED has opened its pages to the thousands of new words which have come into use since the previous edition and which have expanded the precision and expressive power of English. Here are such new words as Afrobeat, carbon-neutral, darknet, heaviosity, impactful, knuckle-dragger, nanomaterial, retro-futurist, smoosh, testosteronic, webinar, and thousands more. (To call someone a testosteronic, retro-futurist knuckle-dragger is no longer an incomprehensible insult).
Features
- Contains more than 600,000 words, phrases, and definitions, with coverage of language from the entire English-speaking world, from North America and the UK to South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, and the Caribbean
- Fully updated with 2,500 new words and meanings based on the ongoing research programme of Oxford Dictionaries and the Oxford English Corpus
- Contains all the vocabulary current in general English from 1700 to the present day, as well as earlier major literary works, including Shakespeare, Milton's poetry, the Authorized Version of the Bible, and Spenser's Faerie Queene
- Excellent coverage of all types of English encompassing slang, dialect words, technical, historical, and literary terms, and rare and obsolete words
- A never-before-published, introductory essay by the eminent language commentator David Crystal on the History of English provides a stimulating insight into the development of the English language
- Completely refreshed design and layout highlights the links between meanings and quotations for ease of use and aesthetic appeal
- CD-ROM included, featuring a fully customizable interface, powerful search capabilities, crossword and anagram solver, and automatic look-up from other applications by double-clicking on a word in a document or web page
- CD-ROM supports screen reader software and can be controlled solely from the keyboard
- Supported operated systems: MicrosoftRG WindowsRG Vista, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, MacOSX v.10.1, 10.2.x, 10.3.x, 10.4.x (PowerPC), 10.4.x.(Intel) Requires IntelRG PentiumRG II 450MHz or faster processor or equivalent (Windows), or PowerPCRG G3 500MHz, Intel Core Duo 1.83GHz, or faster processor (Mac), and 128MB of RAM
Reviews
"This latest (sixth edition) version of the Shorter (the full Oxford is 20 volumes) features 2,500 new words, including blogroll, cremains and crapola, but its real value is in its explanation of word origins and the distinguished examples of usage ."--Seattle Times
"The big language book of the year."--William Safire, New York Times Magazine
"The one dictionary you ought to have."--Philadelphia Inquirer
"A browser's paradise....The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary remains the most reliable and certainly the most capacious of abridged dictionaries. Now with the CD-ROM thrown in, it is also the most convenient."--Edward Short, The American Spectator
"The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary is an affordable and highly useful resource and continues to deliver the high quality one expects. The addition of the CD-ROM makes it very portable and convenient to use."--American Reference Books Annual
"Academic and public libraries that do not own the second edition of the OED or the fifth edition of the Shorter should purchase the sixth edition since it contains a significant portion of the OED 's content. Libraries with comprehensive collections will want the Shorter even if they have the other works."--Booklist , starred review
"The Shorter OED continues to be a superb source of information for information on English words from 1700 forward, plus Shakespearean and biblical vocabulary....Recommended. All levels."--CHOICE
