Macquarie Dictionary
Macquarie Dictionary, Fourth Edition, Macquarie Dictionary Publishers, Pty. Ltd.
An excellent dictionary of Australian English. Subscription site.
Webster’s Third New International Dictionary
Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged; Merriam Webster; 1993.
Originally published in 1961 and updated with a supplement in 1993, this dictionary has some 450,000 entries. Good, if lacking in detail, etymologies make this a good factual source for word origins. Available online as a subscription service.
Shorter Oxford English Dictionary
Trumble, W. R., A. Stevenson, et al. (2002). Shorter Oxford English dictionary on historical principles. 5th edition. Oxford; New York, Oxford University Press.
The SOED is an abridged version of the larger OED, containing words in use since 1700. In two volumes it is easier to use than the full OED for general queries; the answer sought is less likely to be buried in a lengthy entry. Also, being shorter has allowed the editors to completely update the dictionary over the different editions, meaning it often reflects new scholarship that has yet to be added to its larger cousin.
OneLook Dictionary
An online search engine that cross-references some 970 different dictionaries. Very useful for doing comparisons between dictionaries.
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary
Merriam-Webster Inc. (2003). Merriam-Webster’s collegiate dictionary. 11th edition. Springfield, Mass., Merriam-Webster, Inc.
The latest edition of the classic American desktop dictionary. A free version is available online at www.m-w-com. The full 11th edition is available online as a subscription service.
Copyright 1997-2007, by David Wilton
