A Historical Linguistics Lexicon

A glossary of etymological and historical linguistics terms and concepts can be found here.

If you’d like to download it, a PDF version is here (181 Kb).



Oft-Used Sources

These are the sources habitually consulted in the creation of the words on "The Big List." The sources in this category are also listed in the other resources categories, as appropriate.

  • American Dialect Society Email Discussion List (ADS-L)

    • ADS-L is a discussion list for members of the American Dialect Society and interested others. Members of the list include linguists, grammarians, lexicographers, writers, academics, and interested amateurs. The primary topics of conversation are the dialects of North American English and etymology.

  • American Heritage Dictionary

    • An excellent dictionary of American English that traces words back to their Indo-European roots (not all editions contain the appendix on IE roots). Its chief drawback is length, which is only about 70,000 entries.

  • American Speech

    • The quarterly journal of the American Dialect Society.

  • Dictionary of American Regional English

    • One of the most ambitious linguistic projects of recent years, DARE is an attempt to capture the regional slang and dialect of America. An unparalleled resource.

  • Google Books

    • Google’s project for digitization of printed books. An excellent and growing database of works. The search engine, however, is not particularly well suited for searching exact text matches—the algorithms are designed to find topics, not specific phrases. And the dates given by the search engine are not to be relied upon—they are highly inaccurate, sometimes off by centuries. Check the title page of any work found by the search engine to verify the date is correct. Still with all its faults, it is an incredibly useful resource.

  • Green's Dictionary of Slang

    • The crowning achievement of a scholar who dedicated his career to the research of slang terms. It may be the finest slang dictionary available.

  • Historical Dictionary of American Slang (A–O)

    • Incomplete and long neglected, the HDAS rapidly becoming obsolete as the OED and Green’s incorporate what it contains. But it remains an invaluable source for non-standard, American words and phrases beginning with A–O. A historical dictionary, the HDAS provides comprehensive citations of usage that outline each term’s history.
      Lighter, J. E., ed. Historical Dictionary of American Slang. 2 vols. Random House, 1994-97.

  • Merriam-Webster.com

    • The latest edition of the classic American desktop dictionary.

    Oxford English Dictionary (OED)

    • This is the single best source of information on the meaning, usage, and history of words in the English language. Oxford University Press publishes a variety of dictionaries and these smaller, but still excellent, dictionaries should not be confused with the comprehensive behemoth that is the OED.
      The online version is the third or “New” edition of the venerable dictionary. The first tranche of third edition updates was published in March 2000. Updates are published quarterly. This third edition is the first complete revision of the dictionary.

  • Proquest Historical Newspapers

    • A database service covering major newspapers like the New York Times and Washington Post. It is found primarily in research libraries. 

  • Yale Book of Quotations

    • A superb and meticulously researched collection of quotes. The best volume on quotations currently on the market.
      Shapiro, Fred R., ed. The Yale Book of Quotations. Yale University Press, 2006.


General Dictionaries

These are general, all-purpose dictionaries that contain excellent, albeit limited, etymological information.

  • American Heritage Dictionary

    • An excellent dictionary of American English that traces words back to their Indo-European roots (not all editions contain the appendix on IE roots). Its chief drawback is length, which is only about 70,000 entries.

  • Dictionary.com

    • A web site that automatically compiles the results from several dictionaries in response to a user’s search.

  • Google

    • A simple Google search will return basic lexicographic information. It’s not the best, but it’s quick and easy.

  • Lexico.com

    • A free version of Oxford University Press dictionaries.

  • Merriam-Webster.com

    • The latest edition of the classic American desktop dictionary.

  • OneLook Dictionary

    • An online search engine that cross-references over a thousand different dictionaries. Very useful for doing comparisons between dictionaries.

  • Shorter Oxford English Dictionary

    • 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.
      Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. Sixth ed. 2 vols. Oxford University Press, 2007.

  • Wordnik.com

    • An online dictionary that assembles entries from multiple other dictionaries and examples of usage from a myriad of online sources.


Etymology & History of English

These are sources, other than dictionaries, that address etymology, historical linguistics, and the history of the English language.

  • American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots

    • A solid, yet inexpensive resource if you want to trace an etymology to the earliest possible source. Part of the print dictionary, it is not available online, but you can get it as a separate volume.
      American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 3rd edition. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011.

  • Analytic Dictionary of English Etymology

    • Detailed analysis of 55 words of previously “unknown” etymology. The book thoroughly explores the etymology and scholarly history of that etymology for each word. It’s more valuable for the explication of the etymological process than for the scope of words covered.
      Liberman, Anatoly. An Analytic Dictionary of English Etymology. University of Minnesota Press, 2008.

  • Comments on Etymology

    • A monthly review of newly discovered citations and findings in etymology.
      Comments on Etymology. Edited by Gerald Leonard Cohen. Missouri University of Science and Technology.

  • Inventing English

    • A history of the English language with special emphasis on American English in the later chapters. Also devotes chapters to special topics like the OED and African-American English.
      Lerer, Seth. Inventing English: A Portable History of the Language. Columbia University Press, 2007.

  • Origins of English Words

    • A dictionary of Indo-European roots of English words. Old, but still very useful.
      Shipley, Joseph T. The Origins of English Words: A Discursive Dictionary of Indo-European Roots. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984.

  • Oxford Guide to Etymology

    • An introduction into the processes behind word formation.
      Durkin, Philip. The Oxford Guide to Etymology. Oxford University Press, 2009.

  • Stories of English

    • An excellent and very readable history of the English language.
      Crystal, David. The Stories of English. Overlook Press, 2004.

  • Word Myths

    • Word Myths takes on linguistic urban legends, not just debunking them, but also examining why they are told and what they tell us about ourselves. The book examines the patterns underlying these legends and comes to conclusions about such things as why we attach morbid tales to children’s rhymes, why newspapers keep promulgating false origins for terms like the Windy City, or why so many words have false nautical origins.
      Wilton, David. Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends. Oxford University Press, 2004.

  • Word Origins

    • This is perhaps the best single-volume work on word origins available. Recommended highly for anyone with a serious interest in etymology. It is a scholarly work, but written in a style that is accessible to the lay reader, by one of the leading etymologists working today. It’s not casual reading material, but those who are seriously interested in the subject will spend many hours poring over this book.
      Liberman, Anatoly. Word Origins and How We Know Them: Etymology for Everyone. Oxford University Press, 2005.


Medieval English

These are resources about Old and Middle English, as well as some other languages that influenced the development of the English language in the middle ages.

  • Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (Bosworth-Toller)

    • Until Toronto’s Old English Dictionary Online is more complete, Bosworth-Toller will remain the standard Old English dictionary. Fortunately, since Old English is a dead language, its dictionaries don’t become outdated quickly and this remains a very useful tool. A free online version is here. The online version includes the original 1898 dictionary and the 1921 supplement. It does not include the 1972 supplement, which is still under copyright.
      Bosworth, Joseph, T. Northcote Toller, and Alistair Campbell. An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Based on the Manuscript Collections of Joseph Bosworth with Supplement and Revised and Enlarged Addenda. 2 vols. Oxford University Press, 1898-1972.

  • Book of Middle English

    • A glossary and grammar of and readings in Middle English.
      Burrow, J. A., and Turville-Petre Thorlac. A Book of Middle English. 3rd ed. Blackwell Publishing, 2005.

  • Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary

    • Reprint of a 1916 work. A good, portable dictionary of Old English.
      Clark Hall, J. R. A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary. 4th ed. University of Toronto Press, 1960.

  • Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources

    • The best dictionary of medieval Latin yet published, it focuses on Latin as it was spoken and Written in Britain. Full-text search requires a subscription, but you can look up entries via the headwords for free.

  • Dictionary of Old English: A to I

    • This work in progress by the University of Toronto is without a doubt the best Old English dictionary available. Available by subscription only, although a limited number of searches are available for free.

  • Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus

    • Almost every extant Old English text is available in this subscription-only database. A fundamental resource for anyone working on the early medieval period in England.

  • Guide to Old English

    • An introductory text for learning Old English. Complete with readings.
      Mitchell, Bruce, and Fred C. Robinson. A Guide to Old English. 8th ed. Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, 2011.

  • Middle English Dictionary

    • A free, online dictionary of Middle English sponsored by the University of Michigan. An absolutely essential resource for anyone working in medieval English.

  • Middle English Syntax

    • A complete overview of Middle English grammar and syntax. Hard to find, but invaluable.
      Mustanoja, Tauno F. A Middle English Syntax. Société Néophilologique, 1960.

  • Old English and Its Closest Relatives

    • A survey of medieval Germanic languages. Covers pronunciation, grammar, short glossaries, and readings in Old English, Old Frisian, Gothic, and other related languages.
      Robinson, Orrin W. Old English and Its Closest Relatives: A Survey of the Earliest Germanic Languages. Stanford University Press, 1992.

  • Old English Grammar (Campbell)

    • A thorough overview of Old English grammar and syntax.
      Campbell, Alistair. Old English Grammar. 2003 reprint ed. Clarendon Press, 1959.

  • Old English Newsletter Online

    • News, announcements, and information about the world of studies about early medieval England.

  • Proverbs Before 1500 (Whiting)

    • One of three volumes by Whiting on proverbs and catchphrases. This one, as the title suggests, focuses on sayings found in medieval works.
      Whiting, Bartlett Jere. Proverbs, Sentences, and Proverbial Phrases from English Writings Mainly Before 1500. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press, 1968.

  • Word-Hoard (Barney)

    • A discursive Old English dictionary. Limited to introductory vocabulary. A nice resource for the beginning student in Old English.
      Barney, Stephen A. Word-Hoard: An Introduction to Old English Vocabulary. Second ed. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1985.


Slang

These are resources that focus on slang and colloquial English.

  • Fantabulosa

    • An interesting, and sexually explicit, glossary of the language of the gay subculture.
      Baker, Paul. Fantabulosa: A Dictionary of Polari and Gay Slang. Continuum, 2002.

  • Green's Dictionary of Slang

    • The crowning achievement of a scholar who dedicated his career to the research of slang terms. It may be the finest slang dictionary available.

  • Historical Dictionary of American Slang (A–O)

    • Incomplete and long neglected, the HDAS rapidly becoming obsolete as the OED and Green’s incorporate what it contains. But it remains an invaluable source for non-standard, American words and phrases beginning with A–O. A historical dictionary, the HDAS provides comprehensive citations of usage that outline each term’s history.
      Lighter, J. E., ed. Historical Dictionary of American Slang. 2 vols. Random House, 1994-97.

  • New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English

    • Less a revision of the classic Partridge dictionary than a new slang dictionary in its own right. Excellent slang coverage in two volumes. Made somewhat obsolete by Green’s.
      Dalzell, Tom, and Terry Victor, eds. The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English. 2 vols. Routledge, 2006.

  • Polari--The Lost Language of Gay Men

    • A book-length study of Polari, a gay cant that has all but disappeared. Not really a dictionary, but it fits this category better than the others.
      Baker, Paul. Polari: The Lost Language of Gay Men. Routledge, 2002.

  • Urban Dictionary

    • An online compendium of slang. Urban Dictionary is crowd sourced with no apparent editorial supervision. Therefore, it cannot be taken as accurate or authoritative, but when used with care it can be a valuable source for information on recent slang that has yet to be recognized by more traditional references.


Quotations, Proverbs, & Catchphrases

These are resources that focus on quotes and phrases.

  • Brave New Words

    • A historical dictionary of words from science fiction.
      Prucher, Jeff, ed. Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction. Oxford University Press, 2007.

  • Whiting’s Proverbs & Phrases

    • B. J. Whiting produced three superb volumes on proverbs and catchphrases.
      Whiting, Bartlett Jere. Proverbs, Sentences, and Proverbial Phrases from English Writings Mainly Before 1500. Belknap Press, 1968.
      ———. Early American Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases. Belknap Press, 1977.
      ———. Modern Proverbs and Proverbial Sayings. Harvard University Press, 1989.

  • Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (Opie)

    • Despite its name, not actually a dictionary; it’s an excellent, single-volume source that traces the development of 449 children’s rhymes through the centuries. Invaluable to the serious researcher and fascinating to anyone who was ever a child.
      Opie, Iona, and Peter Opie. The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes. Second ed. Oxford University Press, 1997.

  • Quote Investigator

    • A superb website on quotations. It doesn’t cover all that many quotations, but it makes up for it in the depth and quality of the research.

  • Science Fiction Quotations

    • A book of quotes from SF sources.
      Westfahl, Gary, ed. Science Fiction Quotations: From the Inner Mind to the Outer Limits. Yale University Press, 2005.

  • Yale Book of Quotations

    • A superb and meticulously researched collection of quotes. The best volume on quotations currently on the market.
      Shapiro, Fred R., ed. The Yale Book of Quotations. Yale University Press, 2006.


Dialects of English

These are resources about various dialects of English around the world.

  • American Speech

    • The quarterly journal of the American Dialect Society.

  • Black Talk

    • A look at African-American English.
      Smitherman, Geneva. Black Talk: Words and Phrases from the Hood to the Amen Corner. Houghton Mifflin, 2000.

  • Dialects of England

    • A excellent, technical overview of the dialects of England.
      Trudgill, Peter. The Dialects of England. 2nd ed. Blackwell Publishing, 1999.

  • Dictionary of American Regional English

    • One of the most ambitious linguistic projects of recent years, DARE is an attempt to capture the regional slang and dialect of America. An unparalleled resource.

  • Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles Online

    • The Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles, or DCHP-2, is an extremely valuable resource for studying any “word, expression, or meaning which is native to Canada or which is distinctively characteristic of Canadian usage though not necessarily exclusive to Canada.”

  • Dictionary of Newfoundland English Online

    • A free, online version of the regional dictionary published by the University of Toronto.

  • Dictionary of Smoky Mountain English

    • A superb, albeit very specific, regional dictionary.
      Montgomery, Michael B., and Joseph S. Hall. Dictionary of Smoky Mountain English. University of Tennessee Press, 2004.

  • Dictionary of South African English

    • A historical dictionary of South African English.
      Silva, Penny, ed. A Dictionary of South African English on Historical Principles. Oxford University Press, 1996.

  • Dictionary of the Scots Language

    • This site comprises electronic editions of the two major historical dictionaries of the Scots language: the Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue and the Scottish National Dictionary. The first contains information about Scots words in use from the twelfth to the end of the seventeenth centuries (Older Scots); and the second contains information about Scots words in use from the eighteenth century to the present day (modern Scots).

  • Handbook of the International Phonetic Association

    • A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, a standard notation of pronunciation useful for any language.
      Handbook of the International Phonetic Association. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.

  • How We Talk: American Regional English Today

    • A superb and highly readable review of American dialects.
      Metcalf, Allan. How We Talk: American Regional English Today. Houghton Mifflin, 2000.

  • Macquarie Dictionary

    • An excellent dictionary of Australian English. Subscription site.

  • Mighty Fine Words and Smashing Expressions

    • A highly readable overview of the differences between American and British English. Includes descriptions of cultural differences that are reflected in the language.
      Hargraves, Orin. Mighty Fine Words and Smashing Expressions: Making Sense of Transatlantic English. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.

  • Oxford Guide to World English

    • A comprehensive guide to the dialects of English spoken worldwide.
      McArthur, Tom. Oxford Guide to World English. Oxford University Press, 2003.


Toponyms

These are resources about place names.

  • Dictionary of Canadian Place Names

    • Toponyms of Canada. A useful, if specialized, source.
      Rayburn, Alan. Oxford Dictionary of Canadian Place Names. Oxford University Press, 1999.

  • Dictionary of English Place-Names

    • A great source for the origins of place names. Unfortunately, it is limited to England in scope. Welsh and Scottish place names are not covered.
      Mills, A. D. A Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford University Press, 1991.

  • Oxford Dictionary of British Place Names

    • An expansion of Mills’s book on English place names, including Scotland and Wales.
      Mills, A. D. Oxford Dictionary of British Place-Names. Oxford University Press, 2003.


jargon

These are resources about particular jargons and technical vocabularies.

  • Black's Law Dictionary

    • The standard American reference for legal jargon.
      Garner, Bryan A., ed. Black’s Law Dictionary. 11th ed. Thomson Reuters, 2019.

  • Dickson Baseball Dictionary

    • Probably the best single-volume source on baseball terms.
      Dickson, Paul. The Dickson Baseball Dictionary. 3rd ed. W. W. Norton and Company, 2011.

  • Hatchet Jobs and Hardball

    • A superb historical dictionary of political slang and jargon.
      Barrett, Grant. Hatchet Jobs and Hardball: The Oxford Dictionary of American Political Slang. Oxford University Press, 2004.

  • Safire's Political Dictionary

    • A comprehensive review of American political slang and jargon.
      Safire, William. Safire’s Political Dictionary. 3rd ed. Oxford University Press, 2008.


Neologisms

These are resources about newly coined words and phrases.

  • “Among the New Words,” American Speech

    • A regular feature in the quarterly journal of the American Dialect Society.

  • Predicting New Words

    • Discussion of why some new words succeed and others fail and fade away.
      Metcalf, Allan. Predicting New Words: The Secrets of Their Success. Houghton Mifflin, 2002.

  • Urban Dictionary

    • An online compendium of slang. Urban Dictionary is crowd sourced with no apparent editorial supervision. Therefore, it cannot be taken as accurate or authoritative, but when used with care it can be a valuable source for information on recent slang that has yet to be recognized by more traditional references.


Profanity, Swearing, & Euphemism

These are resources about "bad" words.

  • Encyclopedia of Swearing

    • A comprehensive look at swear words, how they are used, and who has used them over the years.
      Hughes, Geoffrey. An Encyclopedia of Swearing. M. E. Sharpe, 2006.

  • F-Word

    • A complete and thorough lexicographic examination of a single word and all its permutations and phrasal uses. It contains everything you wanted to know about the English language’s most notorious word, but were afraid to ask.
      Sheidlower, Jesse. The F-Word. Third ed. Oxford University Press, 2009.

  • Forbidden Words

    • Scholarly examination of swearing and profanity.
      Allan, Keith, and Kate Burridge. Forbidden Words: Taboo and the Censoring of Language. Cambridge University Press, 2006.

  • Strong Language

    • A blog about swearing with contributions by a number of language experts.

  • Swearing in English

    • A scholarly look at swearing.
      McEnery, Tony. Swearing in English: Bad Language, Purity, and Power from 1586 to the Present. Routledge, 2006.


primary source databases

These are online databases that contain primary source material that is useful for etymological and historical linguistic research.

  • Amazon.com

    • It may seem strange to include Amazon.com in a bibliographic list of etymological resources, but the online retailer’s “search inside the book” feature can be a very useful tool for finding citations of use in recently published books—books that because of copyright restrictions are not found in other full-text search databases.

  • English-Corpora.org

    • Brigham Young University hosts a number of searchable corpora of English usage. The site is an invaluable resource for determining how words and phrases are used in different genres and registers, regions, and dates.

  • Google Books

    • Google’s project for digitization of printed books. An excellent and growing database of works. The search engine, however, is not particularly well suited for searching exact text matches—the algorithms are designed to find topics, not specific phrases. And the dates given by the search engine are not to be relied upon—they are highly inaccurate, sometimes off by centuries. Check the title page of any work found by the search engine to verify the date is correct. Still with all its faults, it is an incredibly useful resource.

  • Hathi Trust Digital Library

    • A consortium of academic & research institutions offering a collection of millions of digitized texts from libraries around the world. Subscription service offered by major research libraries.

  • Newspaperarchive.com

    • Subscription site with thousands of small-town newspapers dating back to 1759. The search engine can be problematic, but the sheer volume of its contents and the reasonable price makes it an attractive resource.

  • Proquest Historical Newspapers

    • A database service covering major newspapers like the New York Times and Washington Post. It is found primarily in research libraries. 


grammar, style, & writing

Books and sources on style and usage.

  • Associated Press Stylebook

    • A useful and widely used style manual for journalists, but of limited use to other types of writers. Subscription service.

  • Butterick's Practical Typography

    • This website is a wonderful resource for all things typographical, that is fonts, font sizes, spacing, and all those subjects relating to how a document looks.

  • Cambridge Grammar of the English Language

    • This massive tome is a comprehensive and highly technical review of English grammar. Invaluable to the serious linguistic researcher, it is not intended for the casual user or even most professional writers.

      Huddleston, Rodney, and Geoffrey Pullam. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge University Press, 2002

  • Cambridge Guide to English Usage

    • A British usage manual.
      Peters, Pam. The Cambridge Guide to English Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.

  • Chicago Manual of Style

    • Probably the most comprehensive American style manual in widespread use. A must-have for professional writers.
      The Chicago Manual of Style. 17th ed. University of Chicago Press, 2017.

  • Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language

    • A glossary-style overview of English language terms and history. A valuable general reference on language and rhetoric.
      McArthur, Tom. The Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. Oxford University Press, 1996.

  • Garner's Modern American Usage

    • A widely relied upon manual, but stodgy and filled with Garner’s pet peeves rather than objective analysis. Still, a useful manual if you want to write dull prose that no one will object to.
      Garner, Bryan A. Garner’s Modern American Usage. Fourth ed. Oxford University Press, 2016.

  • Grammar Girl: Quick & Dirty Tips

    • A podcast and blog on writing and style issues. Mignon Fogarty, a.k.a. the Grammar Girl, is one of the more sensible prescriptivists out there, although she has an unfortunate tendency to conflate style with grammar and often fails to grasp that different registers and genres have different requirements.

  • Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage

    • If you can only afford one usage manual, this is the one to get; far and away the best on the market. It provides a detailed history of the development of the usages it presents. It has two flaws: 1) it is over twenty-five years old and doesn’t reflect the language of the internet age, and 2) the wealth of information and background it provides makes it sometimes difficult to use as a quick reference; there is simply so much that it just sucks you in.

      Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage. Merriam-Webster, 1994.

  • Oxford Style Manual

    • OUP’s style guide.
      Ritter, R. M., ed. The Oxford Style Manual. Oxford University Press, 2003.


Language web sites & blogs

The following are links to web-based general language sources and blogs about language. Online sources that fall into other categories, such as online dictionaries, are listed in those categories.

  • A Way With Words

    • Grant Barrett and Martha Barnette host this weekly public radio show and podcast on language.

  • American Dialect Society Email Discussion List (ADS-L)

    • ADS-L is a discussion list for members of the American Dialect Society and interested others. Members of the list include linguists, grammarians, lexicographers, writers, academics, and interested amateurs. The primary topics of conversation are the dialects of North American English and etymology.

  • Arnold Zwicky's Blog

    • The personal blog, “mostly about language,” by the Stanford linguist.

  • Arrant Pedantry

    • A blog about editing, usage, prescriptivism and descriptivism, and other language issues.

  • Barry Popik's Big Apple Web Site

    • A collection of etymologist Barry Popik’s discoveries.

  • Dictionary Society of America

    • Web site of the organization of lexicographers.

  • Explorations of Style

    • A blog about academic writing by Rachel Cayley, a teacher of writing for the School of Graduate Studies at the University of Toronto.

  • Language Log

    • Language Log has been described as “a site where serious professional linguists go to have fun.” Featuring commentary by linguists Mark Liberman, Geoffrey Pullum, Arnold Zwicky, and others, this blog deals with all sorts of topics relating to language and linguistics.

  • Languagehat

    • Readers of the Wordorigins discussion group will recognize Languagehat. This is his blog about language, translation, and copy editing.

  • Lexicon Valley

    • Slate’s language podcast, hosted by linguist John McWhorter.

  • Lousy Linguist

    • Chris is a linguist with some interesting opinions on linguistics and cognition.

  • John McIntyre, The Baltimore Sun

    • Long-time copy editor McIntyre writes on language for the Baltimore Sun.

    Sentence First

    • An Irishman’s blog about language by writer Stan Carey.

  • Separated By A Common Language

    • A blog about the differences between American and British English, by Lynne Murphy, an American linguist living in England.

  • Sesquiotica

    • A blog about language by writer James Harbeck.

  • Subversive Copy Editor Blog

    • Carol Saller is a contributing editor at the Chicago Manual of Style

  • Throw Grammar From the Train

    • Jan Freeman is the language columnist for the Boston Globe, and this is her blog.

  • Web of Language

    • Linguist Dennis Baron’s blog about language in the news.

  • World Wide Words

    • Sadly, Michael Quinion is no longer updating his superb website on etymologies. But the archives are still well worth the visit.


non-english resources

Resources about languages other than English.

  • Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic

    • The title says it all, a dictionary of Old Icelandic.
      Geir, T. Zoëga. A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic. 2004 Medieval Academy Reprints for Teaching 41 ed. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1910.

  • Deutsches Wörterbuch (Grimm)

    • Grimm’s dictionary of German (1854–1961) is available online through the University of Trier.

  • Diccionario Etimológico

    • A Spanish etymological dictionary.

  • Dictionary of Languages (Dalby)

    • An encyclopedia describing over 400 of the world’s languages.

      Dalby, Andrew. Dictionary of Languages: The Definitive Reference to More Than 400 Languages. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.

  • Ethnologue.com

    • A comprehensive site giving information about the languages and dialects (some 6,800 of them) in use around the world.

  • Latin Dictionary (Lewis & Short)

    • Lewis and Short for many years was the standard Latin dictionary and remains one of the two most often cited Latin dictionaries. Many classical scholars now prefer the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1982), but, despite its age, Lewis and Short is a better source for medieval and post-classical Latin. The Perseus digital library at Tufts University has made Lewis and Short available and searchable online for free.