View source for Dictionary

{{short description|Collection of words and their meanings}}
{{Other uses}}{{For|Wikipedia's guideline|Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not#Wikipedia is not a dictionary|Wikipedia:Wikipedia is not a dictionary}}
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=April 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
[[File:Woerterbuchstapel Langenscheidt.jpg|thumb|[[Langenscheidt]] dictionaries in various languages]]
[[File:Latin dictionary.jpg|thumb|A multi-volume Latin dictionary by [[Egidio Forcellini]]]]
[[File:Compact OED ahoy2 (cropped).png|thumb|Dictionary definition entries]]

A '''dictionary''' is a listing of [[lexeme]]s from the [[lexicon]] of one or more specific [[language]]s, often arranged [[Alphabetical order|alphabetically]] (or by [[Semitic root|consonantal root]] for [[Semitic languages]] or [[radical-and-stroke sorting|radical and stroke]] for [[Logogram|logographic]] languages), which may include information on [[definition]]s, usage, [[etymologies]], [[pronunciation]]s, [[Bilingual dictionary|translation]], etc.<ref name = Web1>Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition, 2002</ref><ref name="thought">{{cite web |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-a-dictionary-1690450 |title=The Features, Functions, and Limitations of Dictionaries |last=Nordquist |first=Richard |date=9 August 2019 |website=ThoughtCo |access-date=13 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526182451/https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-a-dictionary-1690450 |archive-date=26 May 2022}}</ref><ref name="britannica">{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/summary/dictionary |title=Dictionary |website=Britannica |access-date=13 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220708010534/https://www.britannica.com/summary/dictionary |archive-date=8 July 2022}}</ref> It is a [[Lexicography|lexicographical]] reference that shows inter-relationships among the data.<ref>{{Cite journal |author = Nielsen, Sandro |year = 2008 |title = The Effect of Lexicographical Information Costs on Dictionary Naming and Use | journal = Lexikos |volume = 18 |issn= 1684-4904 |pages = 170–189}}</ref>

A broad distinction is made between [[general dictionary|general]] and [[specialized dictionaries]]. Specialized dictionaries include words in specialist fields, rather than a comprehensive range of words in the language. Lexical items that describe concepts in specific fields are usually called terms instead of words, although there is no consensus whether [[lexicology]] and [[terminology]] are two different fields of study.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}} In theory, general dictionaries are supposed{{citation needed|date=November 2016}} to be [[Semasiology|semasiological]], mapping word to [[definition]], while specialized dictionaries are supposed to be [[Onomasiology|onomasiological]], first identifying [[concept]]s and then establishing the terms used to designate them. In practice, the two approaches are used for both types.<ref name="Sterkenburg2003">A Practical Guide to Lexicography, Sterkenburg 2003, pp. 155–157</ref> There are other types of dictionaries that do not fit neatly into the above distinction, for instance [[bilingual dictionary|bilingual (translation) dictionaries]], dictionaries of [[synonym]]s ([[thesaurus|thesauri]]), and [[rhyming]] dictionaries. The word dictionary (unqualified) is usually understood to refer to a general purpose [[monolingual dictionary]].<ref name=Sintro>A Practical Guide to Lexicography, Sterkenburg 2003, pp. 3–4</ref>

There is also a contrast between [[Prescription and description|''prescriptive'' or ''descriptive'']] dictionaries; the former reflect what is seen as correct use of the language while the latter reflect recorded actual use. Stylistic indications (e.g. "informal" or "vulgar") in many modern dictionaries are also considered by some to be less than objectively descriptive.<ref>A Practical Guide to Lexicography, Sterkenburg 2003, p. 7</ref>

The first recorded dictionaries date back to [[Sumer]]ian times around 2300 BCE, in the form of bilingual dictionaries, and the oldest surviving monolingual dictionaries are [[Chinese dictionary|Chinese dictionaries]] {{circa|3rd century BCE}}. The first purely English alphabetical dictionary was ''[[Table Alphabeticall|A Table Alphabeticall]]'', written in 1604, and monolingual dictionaries in other languages also began appearing in Europe at around this time. The systematic study of dictionaries as objects of scientific interest arose as a 20th-century enterprise, called [[lexicography]], and largely initiated by [[Ladislav Zgusta]].<ref name=Sintro/> The birth of the new discipline was not without controversy, with the practical dictionary-makers being sometimes accused by others of having an "astonishing lack of method and critical self-reflection".<ref name="Hartmann2003">{{cite book|author=R. R. K. Hartmann|title=Lexicography: Dictionaries, compilers, critics, and users|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hLlhyvpg7KoC&pg=PA21|year=2003|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-25366-6|page=21}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Catalano latinum 1696 Gazophylacium Dictionary published in Barcelona.jpg|left|thumb|Catalan-Latin dictionary from the year 1696 with more than 1000 pages. Gazophylacium Dictionary. ]]

The oldest known dictionaries were [[cuneiform]] tablets with bilingual [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]]–[[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] wordlists, discovered in [[Ebla]] (modern [[Syria]]) and dated to roughly 2300 BCE, the time of the [[Akkadian Empire]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=DCCLT – Digital Corpus of Cuneiform Lexical Texts |url=http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/dcclt/intro/lexical_intro.html |access-date=1 March 2022 |website=oracc.museum.upenn.edu |archive-date=1 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401062333/http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/dcclt/intro/lexical_intro.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="imlqdg">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Dictionary – MSN Encarta |url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761573731/Dictionary.html#p3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091029091932/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761573731/Dictionary.html |archive-date=29 October 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Jackson |first=Howard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v7lgEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT347 |title=The Bloomsbury Handbook of Lexicography |date=24 February 2022 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-350-18172-4 |language=en}}</ref> The early 2nd millennium BCE ''[[Urra=hubullu]]'' glossary is the canonical [[Babylonia]]n version of such bilingual Sumerian wordlists. A [[Chinese dictionary]], the {{Circa|3rd century BCE}} ''[[Erya]]'', is the earliest surviving monolingual dictionary; some sources cite the ''[[Shizhoupian]]'' (probably compiled sometime between 700 BCE to 200 BCE, possibly earlier) as a "dictionary", although modern scholarship considers it a calligraphic compendium of [[Chinese character]]s from [[Zhou dynasty]] bronzes.{{citation needed |reason=The Wikipedia article about the Shizhoupian does not contain any mention of Zhou dynasty bronzes or calligraphy. |date=September 2022}} [[Philitas of Cos]] (fl. 4th century BCE) wrote a pioneering vocabulary ''Disorderly Words'' (Ἄτακτοι γλῶσσαι, ''{{transliteration|el|ISO|Átaktoi glôssai}}'') which explained the meanings of rare [[Homer]]ic and other literary words, words from local dialects, and technical terms.<ref>{{cite journal |author= Peter Bing |title= The unruly tongue: Philitas of Cos as scholar and poet |journal= Classical Philology |volume=98 |issue=4 |year=2003 |pages=330–348 |doi=10.1086/422370|s2cid= 162304317 }}</ref> [[Apollonius the Sophist]] ([[Floruit|fl.]] 1st century CE) wrote the oldest surviving Homeric lexicon.<ref name = "imlqdg"/> The first [[Sanskrit]] dictionary, the [[Amarakosha|Amarakośa]], was written by [[Amarasimha]] {{Circa|4th century CE}}. Written in verse, it listed around 10,000 words. According to the {{Lang|ja-latn|[[Nihon Shoki]]}}, the first [[Japanese dictionaries#Early Japanese lexicography|Japanese dictionary]] was the long-lost 682 CE ''Niina'' glossary of Chinese characters. [[Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi|Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi's]] 8th century ''[[Kitab al-'Ayn]]'' is considered the first dictionary of [[Arabic]].<ref>Sellheim, R., "al-K̲h̲alīl b. Aḥmad", in: ''[[Encyclopaedia of Islam]], Second Edition'', Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Consulted online on 4 June 2023</ref> The oldest existing Japanese dictionary, the {{Circa|835 CE}} ''[[Tenrei Banshō Meigi]]'', was also a glossary of written Chinese. In ''[[Frahang-i Pahlavig]]'', [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] [[Heterogram (linguistics)|heterograms]] are listed together with their translation in the [[Middle Persian]] language and phonetic transcription in the [[Pazend]] alphabet. A 9th-century CE Irish dictionary, [[Sanas Cormaic]], contained etymologies and explanations of over 1,400 Irish words. In the 12th century, The [[Kara-Khanid Khanate|Karakhanid]]-[[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] scholar [[Mahmud al-Kashgari|Mahmud Kashgari]] finished his work "[[Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk|Divan-u Lügat'it Türk]]", a dictionary about the Turkic dialects, but especially [[Middle Turkic languages|Karakhanid Turkic]]. His work contains about 7500 to 8000 words and it was written to teach non Turkic Muslims, especially the Abbasid Arabs, the Turkic language.<ref>Besim Atalay, Divanü Lügat-it Türk Dizini, TTK Basımevi, Ankara, 1986</ref> [[Al-Zamakhshari]] wrote a small Arabic dictionary called "Muḳaddimetü'l-edeb" for the Turkic-Khwarazm ruler [[Atsiz]].<ref>Zeki Velidi Togan, Zimahşeri'nin Doğu Türkçesi İle Mukaddimetül Edeb'i</ref> In the 14th century, the [[Codex Cumanicus]] was finished and it served as a dictionary about the [[Cumans|Cuman]]-Turkic language. While in [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluk Egypt]], Ebû Hayyân el-Endelüsî finished his work "Kitâbü'l-İdrâk li-lisâni'l-Etrâk", a dictionary about the [[Kipchaks|Kipchak]] and [[Turkoman (ethnonym)|Turcoman]] languages spoken in Egypt and the [[Levant]].<ref>Ahmet Caferoğlu, Kitab Al Idrak Li Lisan Al Atrak, 1931</ref> A dictionary called "Bahşayiş Lügati", which is written in old Anatolian Turkish, served also as a dictionary between Oghuz Turkish, Arabic and Persian. But it is not clear who wrote the dictionary or in which century exactly it was published. It was written in [[old Anatolian Turkish]] from the [[Seljuk Empire|Seljuk]] period and not the late medieval [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] period.<ref>Bahşāyiş Bin Çalıça, Bahşayiş Lügati: Hazırlayan: Fikret TURAN, Ankara 2017,</ref> In India around 1320, [[Amir Khusro]] compiled the Khaliq-e-bari, which mainly dealt with [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]] and [[Persian language|Persian]] words.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rashid|first=Omar|title=Chasing Khusro|url=http://www.thehindu.com/arts/books/article3672990.ece|newspaper=The Hindu|access-date=5 August 2012|archive-date=25 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190925124056/https://www.thehindu.com/books/chasing-khusro/article3672990.ece|url-status=live}}</ref>[[File:Nouveau Dictionnaire Larousse page.JPG|thumb|The French-language ''[[Petit Larousse]]'' is an example of an illustrated dictionary.]]

[[Arabic]] dictionaries were compiled between the 8th and 14th centuries, organizing words in rhyme order (by the last syllable), by alphabetical order of the [[root (linguistics)|radicals]], or according to the alphabetical order of the first letter (the system used in modern European language dictionaries). The modern system was mainly used in specialist dictionaries, such as those of terms from the [[Qur'an]] and [[hadith]], while most general use dictionaries, such as the ''Lisan al-`Arab'' (13th century, still the best-known large-scale dictionary of Arabic) and ''al-Qamus al-Muhit'' (14th century) listed words in the alphabetical order of the radicals. The ''Qamus al-Muhit'' is the first handy dictionary in Arabic, which includes only words and their definitions, eliminating the supporting examples used in such dictionaries as the ''Lisan'' and the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]''.<ref>"Ḳāmūs", J. Eckmann, ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'', 2nd ed., Brill</ref>

[[File:Vocabolario degli accademici della crusca, prima edizione per giovanni alberti, venezia 1612, 01.jpg|thumb|300px|left|1612 ''[[Vocabolario degli Accademici della Crusca]]'']]
In medieval Europe, [[glossary|glossaries]] with equivalents for Latin words in [[vernacular]] or simpler Latin were in use (e.g. the [[Leiden Glossary]]). The ''[[Catholicon (1286)|Catholicon]]'' (1287) by [[John of Genoa|Johannes Balbus]], a large grammatical work with an alphabetical lexicon, was widely adopted. It served as the basis for several bilingual dictionaries and was one of the earliest books (in 1460) to be printed. In 1502 [[Ambrogio Calepino]]'s ''Dictionarium'' was published, originally a monolingual Latin dictionary, which over the course of the 16th century was enlarged to become a multilingual glossary. In 1532 [[Robert Estienne]] published the ''Thesaurus linguae latinae'' and in 1572 his son [[Henri Estienne]] published the ''[[Thesaurus linguae graecae]]'', which served up to the 19th century as the basis of Greek lexicography. The first monolingual Spanish dictionary written was [[Sebastián Covarrubias]]'s ''[[Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española]]'', published in 1611 in Madrid, Spain.<ref>''Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española'', edición integral e ilustrada de Ignacio Arellano y Rafael Zafra, Madrid, Iberoamericana-Vervuert, 2006, pg. XLIX.</ref> In 1612 the first edition of the ''[[Vocabolario degli Accademici della Crusca]]'', for [[italian language|Italian]], was published. It served as the model for similar works in French and English. In 1690 in [[Rotterdam]] was published, posthumously, the ''Dictionnaire Universel'' by [[Antoine Furetière]] for [[french language|French]]. In 1694 appeared the first edition of the {{Lang|fr|[[Dictionnaire de l'Académie française]]}} (still published, with the ninth edition not complete {{As of|2021|lc=y}}). Between 1712 and 1721 was published the ''Vocabulario portughez e latino'' written by Raphael Bluteau. The [[Royal Spanish Academy]] published the first edition of the {{Lang|es|[[Diccionario de la lengua española]]}} (still published, with a new edition about every decade) in 1780; their ''Diccionario de Autoridades'', which included quotes taken from literary works, was published in 1726. The ''Totius Latinitatis lexicon'' by [[Egidio Forcellini]] was firstly published in 1777; it has formed the basis of all similar works that have since been published.

The first edition of ''[[A Greek-English Lexicon]]'' by [[Henry George Liddell]] and [[Robert Scott (philologist)|Robert Scott]] appeared in 1843; this work remained the basic dictionary of Greek until the end of the 20th century. And in 1858 was published the first volume of the [[Deutsches Wörterbuch]] by the [[Brothers Grimm]]; the work was completed in 1961. Between 1861 and 1874 was published the ''Dizionario della lingua italiana'' by [[Niccolò Tommaseo]]. Between 1862 and 1874 was published the six volumes of ''A magyar nyelv szótára'' (Dictionary of Hungarian Language) by Gergely Czuczor and János Fogarasi. [[Émile Littré]] published the {{Lang|fr|[[Dictionnaire de la langue française (Littré)|Dictionnaire de la langue française]]}} between 1863 and 1872. In the same year 1863 appeared the first volume of the ''[[Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal]]'' which was completed in 1998. Also in 1863 [[Vladimir Ivanovich Dahl]] published the ''[[Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language]]''. The [[Duden]] dictionary dates back to 1880, and is currently the [[prescriptive]] source for the spelling of German. The decision to start work on the ''[[Svenska Akademiens ordbok]]'' was taken in 1787.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://g3.spraakdata.gu.se/saob/|title=OSA – Om svar anhålles|website=g3.spraakdata.gu.se|access-date=13 October 2017|archive-date=2 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130302142155/http://g3.spraakdata.gu.se/saob/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===English dictionaries in Britain===

The earliest dictionaries in the English language were glossaries of French, Spanish or Latin words along with their definitions in English. The word "dictionary" was invented by an Englishman called [[John of Garland]] in 1220{{snd}} he had written a book ''[[Dictionarius (Johannes de Garlandia)|Dictionarius]]'' to help with Latin "diction".<ref>Mark Forsyth. The etymologicon. // Icon Books Ltd. London N79DP, 2011. p. 128</ref> An [[Early English dictionaries|early non-alphabetical list of 8000 English words]] was the ''Elementarie'', created by [[Richard Mulcaster]] in 1582.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/dic/mul/elementarie.html|title=1582 – Mulcaster's Elementarie|website=www.bl.uk|access-date=13 October 2017|archive-date=11 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011021428/http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/dic/mul/elementarie.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[http://angli02.kgw.tu-berlin.de/lexicography/b_history.html A Brief History of English Lexicography] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080309181613/http://angli02.kgw.tu-berlin.de/lexicography/b_history.html |date=9 March 2008 }}, Peter Erdmann and See-Young Cho, [[Technical University of Berlin|Technische Universität Berlin]], 1999.</ref>

The first purely English alphabetical dictionary was ''[[Table Alphabeticall|A Table Alphabeticall]]'', written by English schoolteacher [[Robert Cawdrey]] in 1604.<ref name="thought" /><ref name="britannica" /> The only surviving copy is found at the [[Bodleian Library]] in [[Oxford]]. This dictionary, and the many imitators which followed it, was seen as unreliable and nowhere near definitive. [[Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield]] was still lamenting in 1754, 150 years after Cawdrey's publication, that it is "a sort of disgrace to our nation, that hitherto we have had no… standard of our language; our dictionaries at present being more properly what our neighbors the Dutch and the Germans call theirs, word-books, than dictionaries in the superior sense of that title."<ref>[http://JackLynch.net/Papers/firstdict.html Jack Lynch, "How Johnson's Dictionary Became the First Dictionary" (delivered 25 August 2005 at the Johnson and the English Language conference, Birmingham)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190829231146/http://jacklynch.net/Papers/firstdict.html |date=29 August 2019 }} Retrieved 12 July 2008,</ref>

In 1616, John Bullokar described the history of the dictionary with his "English Expositor". ''Glossographia'' by [[Thomas Blount (lexicographer)|Thomas Blount]], published in 1656, contains more than 10,000 words along with their etymologies or histories. [[Edward Phillips]] wrote another dictionary in 1658, entitled "[[The New World of English Words]]: Or a General Dictionary" which boldly [[Plagiarism|plagiarized]] Blount's work, and the two criticized each other. This created more interest in the dictionaries. [[John Wilkins]]' 1668 [[An Essay towards a Real Character and a Philosophical Language|essay on philosophical language]] contains a list of 11,500 words with careful distinctions, compiled by [[William Lloyd (bishop of Worcester)|William Lloyd]].<ref>{{cite book|author=John P. Considine|title=Dictionaries in Early Modern Europe: Lexicography and the Making of Heritage|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cqBkQFiTbX4C&pg=PA298|access-date=16 May 2016|date=27 March 2008|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-88674-1|page=298}}</ref> [[Elisha Coles]] published his "English Dictionary" in 1676.

It was not until [[Samuel Johnson]]'s ''[[A Dictionary of the English Language]]'' (1755) that a more reliable English dictionary was produced.<ref name="britannica" /> Many people today mistakenly believe that Johnson wrote the first English dictionary: a testimony to this legacy.<ref name="thought" /><ref name = "wblqfm">{{cite web|url=http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Papers/firstdict.html|title=Lynch, "How Johnson's Dictionary Became the First Dictionary"|website=andromeda.rutgers.edu|access-date=13 October 2017|archive-date=6 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606025835/http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Papers/firstdict.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> By this stage, dictionaries had evolved to contain textual references for most words, and were arranged alphabetically, rather than by topic (a previously popular form of arrangement, which meant all animals would be grouped together, etc.). Johnson's masterwork could be judged as the first to bring all these elements together, creating the first "modern" dictionary.<ref name = "wblqfm"/>

Johnson's dictionary remained the English-language standard for over 150 years, until the [[Oxford University Press]] began writing and releasing the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' in short [[wikt:fascicle|fascicles]] from 1884 onwards.<ref name="britannica" /> A complete ten-volume first edition<ref name="c479">{{cite web | title=The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) | website=Encyclopedia Britannica | date=20 July 1998 | url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Oxford-English-Dictionary | access-date=14 September 2024}}</ref> was not released until 1928.<ref name="s764">{{cite news | last=Dirda | first=Michael | title=The most influential crowdsourcing project happened long before Wikipedia | newspaper=Washington Post | date=12 October 2023 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/10/12/dictionary-people-book-review/ | access-date=14 September 2024}}</ref> 

The OED remains the most comprehensive and trusted English language dictionary to this day, with revisions and updates added by a dedicated team every three months.

===American English dictionaries===
In 1806, American [[Noah Webster]] published his first dictionary, ''[[s:A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language|A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language]]''.<ref name="britannica" /> In 1807 Webster began compiling an expanded and fully comprehensive dictionary, ''An American Dictionary of the English Language;'' it took twenty-seven years to complete. To evaluate the etymology of words, Webster learned twenty-six languages, including [[Old English]] (Anglo-Saxon), German, Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, French, Hebrew, Arabic, and [[Sanskrit]].

Webster completed his dictionary during his year abroad in 1825 in Paris, France, and at the [[University of Cambridge]]. His book contained seventy thousand words, of which twelve thousand had never appeared in a published dictionary before. As a [[spelling reform]]er, Webster believed that English spelling rules were unnecessarily complex, so his dictionary introduced spellings that became [[American English]], replacing "colour" with "color", substituting "wagon" for "waggon", and printing "center" instead of "centre". He also added American words, like "skunk" and "squash", which did not appear in British dictionaries. At the age of seventy, Webster published his dictionary in 1828; it sold 2500 copies. In 1840, the second edition was published in two volumes. Webster's dictionary was acquired by G & C Merriam Co. in 1843, after his death, and has since been published in many revised editions. [[Merriam-Webster]] was acquired by [[Encyclopedia Britannica]] in 1964.

Controversy over the lack of usage advice in the 1961 ''[[Webster's Third New International Dictionary]]'' spurred publication of the 1969 ''[[The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language]]'', the first dictionary to use [[corpus linguistics]].

==Types==

In a general dictionary, each word may have multiple meanings. Some dictionaries include each separate meaning in the order of most common usage while others list definitions in historical order, with the oldest usage first.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ld/pubs/corereference/internal/chd.html |title=Language Core Reference Sources – Texas State Library |access-date=22 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100425064041/http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ld/pubs/corereference/internal/chd.html |archive-date=25 April 2010 }}</ref>

In many languages, words can appear in many different forms, but only the [[lemma (morphology)|undeclined or unconjugated]] form appears as the [[headword]] in most dictionaries. Dictionaries are most commonly found in the form of a book, but some newer dictionaries, like [[StarDict]] and the ''[[New Oxford American Dictionary]]'' are dictionary software running on [[Personal Digital Assistant|PDAs]] or [[computer]]s. There are also many [[List of online dictionaries|online dictionaries]] accessible via the [[Internet]].

===Specialized dictionaries===
{{main|Specialized dictionary}}
According to the ''Manual of Specialized Lexicographies'', a [[specialized dictionary]], also referred to as a technical dictionary, is a dictionary that focuses upon a specific subject field, as opposed to a dictionary that comprehensively contains words from the lexicon of a specific language or languages. Following the description in ''The Bilingual LSP Dictionary'', [[lexicographers]] categorize specialized dictionaries into three types: A [[multi-field dictionary]] broadly covers several subject fields (e.g. a [[business dictionary]]), a [[single-field dictionary]] narrowly covers one particular subject field (e.g. law), and a [[sub-field dictionary]] covers a more specialized field (e.g. constitutional law). For example, the 23-language [[Inter-Active Terminology for Europe]] is a multi-field dictionary, the [[American National Biography]] is a single-field, and the [[African American National Biography Project]] is a sub-field dictionary. In terms of the coverage distinction between "minimizing dictionaries" and "maximizing dictionaries", multi-field dictionaries tend to minimize coverage across subject fields (for instance, ''[[Oxford Dictionary of World Religions]]'' and ''[[Yadgar Dictionary of Computer and Internet Terms]]'')<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thesindhtimes.com/education/the-first-english-to-einglis-and-sindh-dictionary-of-computer-and-internet-terms-published/|title=The first English to Einglish and Sindhi Dictionary of Computer and Internet Terms published – The Sindh Times|first=The Sindh|last=Times|date=24 February 2015|access-date=13 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011021439/http://www.thesindhtimes.com/education/the-first-english-to-einglis-and-sindh-dictionary-of-computer-and-internet-terms-published/|archive-date=11 October 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> whereas single-field and sub-field dictionaries tend to maximize coverage within a limited subject field (''[[The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology]]'').

Another variant is the [[glossary]], an alphabetical list of defined terms in a specialized field, such as medicine ([[medical dictionary]]).

===Defining dictionaries===
The simplest dictionary, a [[defining dictionary]], provides a [[core glossary]] of the simplest meanings of the simplest concepts. From these, other concepts can be explained and defined, in particular for those who are first learning a language. In English, the commercial defining dictionaries typically include only one or two meanings of under 2000 words. With these, the rest of English, and even the 4000 most common English [[idiom]]s and [[metaphor]]s, can be defined.

===Prescriptive vs. descriptive===
Lexicographers apply two basic philosophies to the defining of words: [[Prescription and description|''prescriptive'' or ''descriptive'']]. [[Noah Webster]], intent on forging a distinct identity for the American language, altered spellings and accentuated differences in meaning and pronunciation of some words. This is why [[American English]] now uses the spelling ''color'' while the rest of the English-speaking world prefers ''colour''. (Similarly, [[British English]] subsequently underwent a few spelling changes that did not affect American English; see further at [[American and British English spelling differences]].)<ref name="Benson2002">{{cite book|author=Phil Benson|title=Ethnocentrism and the English Dictionary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WeuW7oy7-58C&pg=PA8|year=2002|publisher=Taylor & Francis|pages=8–11|isbn=9780203205716}}</ref>

Large 20th-century dictionaries such as the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' (OED) and ''[[Webster's Third New International Dictionary|Webster's Third]]'' are descriptive, and attempt to describe the actual use of words. Most dictionaries of English now apply the descriptive method to a word's definition, and then, outside of the definition itself, provide information alerting readers to attitudes which may influence their choices on words often considered vulgar, offensive, erroneous, or easily confused.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Ingrid Tieken-Boon van Ostade|author2=Wim van der Wurff|title=Current Issues in Late Modern English|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x91EUnnWwR8C&pg=PA41|year=2009|publisher=Peter Lang|pages=41–42|isbn=9783039116607}}</ref> ''[[Merriam-Webster]]'' is subtle, only adding italicized notations such as, ''sometimes offensive'' or ''stand'' (nonstandard). ''[[American Heritage Dictionary|American Heritage]]'' goes further, discussing issues separately in numerous "usage notes." ''[[Encarta Webster's Dictionary|Encarta]]'' provides similar notes, but is more prescriptive, offering warnings and admonitions against the use of certain words considered by many to be offensive or illiterate, such as, "an offensive term for..." or "a taboo term meaning...".

Because of the widespread use of dictionaries in schools, and their acceptance by many as language authorities, their treatment of the language does affect usage to some degree, with even the most descriptive dictionaries providing conservative continuity. In the long run, however, the meanings of words in English are primarily determined by usage, and the language is being changed and created every day.<ref>Ned Halley, ''The Wordsworth Dictionary of Modern English Grammar'' (2005), p. 84</ref> As [[Jorge Luis Borges]] says in the prologue to "El otro, el mismo": "''It is often forgotten that (dictionaries) are artificial repositories, put together well after the languages they define. The roots of language are irrational and of a magical nature.''"

Sometimes the same dictionary can be descriptive in some domains and prescriptive in others. For example, according to [[Ghil'ad Zuckermann]], the ''Oxford English-Hebrew Dictionary'' is "at war with itself": whereas its coverage (lexical items) and glosses (definitions) are descriptive and colloquial, its [[Niqqud|vocalization]] is prescriptive. This internal conflict results in absurd sentences such as ''hi taharóg otí kshetiré me asíti lamkhonít'' (she'll tear me apart when she sees what I've done to the car). Whereas ''hi taharóg otí'', literally 'she will kill me', is colloquial, ''me'' (a variant of ''ma'' 'what') is archaic, resulting in a combination that is unutterable in real life.<ref>[[Ghil'ad Zuckermann|Zuckermann, Ghil'ad]] (1999). [http://www.professorzuckermann.com/review-of-the-oxford-english-hebrew- Review of the Oxford English-Hebrew Dictionary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011063925/http://www.professorzuckermann.com/review-of-the-oxford-english-hebrew- |date=11 October 2016 }}, ''[[International Journal of Lexicography]]'' 12.4, pp. 325-346.</ref>

=== Historical dictionaries ===
A [[historical dictionary]] is a specific kind of descriptive dictionary which describes the development of words and senses over time, usually using citations to original source material to support its conclusions.<ref>See for example Toyin Falola, et al. ''Historical dictionary of Nigeria'' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018) [http://shcas.shnu.edu.cn/_upload/article/files/de/94/931b0247425ba03333178c9595d2/de98fbe8-46c3-487e-b684-9d5ba3760418.pdf excerpt] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401062344/http://shcas.shnu.edu.cn/_upload/article/files/de/94/931b0247425ba03333178c9595d2/de98fbe8-46c3-487e-b684-9d5ba3760418.pdf |date=1 April 2022 }}</ref>

===Dictionaries for natural language processing===
{{further|Machine-readable dictionary}}
In contrast to traditional dictionaries, which are designed to be used by human beings, dictionaries for [[natural language processing]] (NLP) are built to be used by computer programs. The final user is a human being but the direct user is a program. Such a dictionary does not need to be able to be printed on paper. The structure of the content is not linear, ordered entry by entry but has the form of a complex network (see [[Diathesis alternation]]). Because most of these dictionaries are used to control [[machine translation]]s or [[cross-lingual information retrieval]] (CLIR) the content is usually multilingual and usually of huge size. In order to allow formalized exchange and merging of dictionaries, an ISO standard called [[Lexical Markup Framework]] (LMF) has been defined and used among the industrial and academic community.<ref>Imad Zeroual, and Abdelhak Lakhouaja, "Data science in light of natural language processing: An overview." ''Procedia Computer Science'' 127 (2018): 82-91 [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877050918301121/pdf?md5=2501a29a5fec8aad57d82102639b8631&pid=1-s2.0-S1877050918301121-main.pdf online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220222054608/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877050918301121/pdf?md5=2501a29a5fec8aad57d82102639b8631&pid=1-s2.0-S1877050918301121-main.pdf |date=22 February 2022 }}.</ref>

===Other types===

* [[Bilingual dictionary]]
* [[Collegiate dictionary]] (American)
* [[Learner's dictionary]] (mostly British)
* [[Electronic dictionary]]
* [[Encyclopedic dictionary]]
* [[Monolingual learner's dictionary]]
** [[Advanced learner's dictionary]]
* By sound
** [[Rhyming dictionary]]
* [[Reverse dictionary]] ([[Conceptual dictionary]])
* [[Visual dictionary]]
* [[The Devil's Dictionary|Satirical dictionary]]
* [[Phonetic dictionary]]

==Pronunciation==
{{Main|Pronunciation respelling for English}}
In many languages, such as the English language, the pronunciation of some words is not consistently apparent from their spelling. In these languages, dictionaries usually provide the pronunciation. For example, the definition for the word ''dictionary'' might be followed by the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] spelling {{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|ɪ|k|ʃ|ə|n|ər|i}} (in British English) or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|ɪ|k|ʃ|ə|n|ɛr|i}} (in American English). American English dictionaries often use their own [[pronunciation respelling]] systems with [[diacritic]]s, for example ''dictionary''  is respelled as "dĭk'''′'''shə-nĕr′ē" in the [[The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language|American Heritage Dictionary]].{{refn|{{Cite American Heritage Dictionary|dictionary}}}} The IPA is more commonly used within the British Commonwealth countries. Yet others use their own pronunciation respelling systems without diacritics: for example, ''dictionary'' may be respelled as {{respell|DIK|shə|nər|ee}} or {{respell|DIK|shə|nerr|ee}} on Wikipedia. Some online or electronic dictionaries provide audio recordings of words being spoken.

==Examples==

===Major English dictionaries===
<!-- DO NOT ADD MORE LINKS TO THIS ARTICLE. WIKIPEDIA IS NOT A COLLECTION OF LINKS -->
<!-- If you think that your link might be useful,  instead of placing it here, put -->
<!-- it on this article's discussion page first. Links that have not been verified -->
<!--                                WILL BE DELETED                                -->
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
* ''[[A Dictionary of the English Language]]'' by [[Samuel Johnson]] (prescriptive)
* ''The [[American College Dictionary]]'' by [[Clarence L. Barnhart]]
* ''[[The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language]]''
* ''[[Black's Law Dictionary]]'', a [[law dictionary]]
* ''[[Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable]]''
* ''[[Canadian Oxford Dictionary]]''
* ''[[Century Dictionary]]''
* ''[[Chambers Dictionary]]''
* ''[[Collins English Dictionary]]''
* ''[[Concise Oxford English Dictionary]]''
* ''[[Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English]] / [[Longman]]''
* ''[[Macmillan Dictionary]]''
* ''[[Macquarie Dictionary]]'', a dictionary of [[Australian English]]
* ''[[Merriam-Webster]]'', a dictionary of [[American English]]
* ''[[Oxford Dictionary of English]]''
* ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' (descriptive) (well-known as OED/O.E.D.)
* ''[[Random House Dictionary of the English Language]]''
* ''[[Webster's New World Dictionary]]'' (especially the college edition, used as the official desk dictionary of many American press journalists)
}}

{{further|Comparison of English dictionaries}}

===Dictionaries of other languages===
Histories and descriptions of the dictionaries of other languages on Wikipedia include:

* [[List of Arabic dictionaries|Arabic dictionaries]]
* [[Chinese dictionary|Chinese dictionaries]]
* [[Dehkhoda Dictionary]] ([[Persian Language]])
* [[List of Dutch dictionaries|Dutch dictionaries]]
* [[List of French dictionaries|French dictionaries]]
* [[List of German dictionaries|German dictionaries]]
* [[Japanese dictionary|Japanese dictionaries]]
* [[Polish dictionaries]]
* [[Scottish Gaelic dictionaries]]
* [[Scottish Language Dictionaries]]
* [[Sindhi to English Dictionary|Sindhi Language Dictionaries]]

==Online dictionaries==
{{further|List of online dictionaries|:Category:Online dictionaries}}
The age of the Internet brought online dictionaries to the desktop and, more recently, to the smart phone. [[David Skinner (journalist)|David Skinner]] in 2013 noted that "Among the top ten lookups on Merriam-Webster Online at this moment are ''holistic, pragmatic, caveat, esoteric'' and ''bourgeois.'' Teaching users about words they don't already know has been, historically, an aim of lexicography, and modern dictionaries do this well."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Skinner |first1=David |author-link1=David Skinner (journalist) |title=The Role of a Dictionary |url=http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/17/the-role-of-a-dictionary/ |website=Opinionator |publisher=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=13 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518173222/http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/17/the-role-of-a-dictionary/ |archive-date=18 May 2013 |date=17 May 2013}}</ref>

There exist a number of websites which operate as online dictionaries, usually with a specialized focus. Some of them have exclusively user driven content, often consisting of [[neologisms]]. Some of the more notable examples are given in [[List of online dictionaries]] and [[:Category:Online dictionaries]].

==See also==
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
* {{portal inline|size=tiny|Books}}
* [[Comparison of English dictionaries]]
* [[Centre for Lexicography]]
* [[COBUILD]], a large [[text corpus|corpus]] of English text
* [[Corpus linguistics]]
* [[DICT]], the dictionary server protocol
* [[Dictionary Society of North America]]
* [[Fictitious entry]]
* [[Foreign language writing aid]]
* [[Lexicographic error]]
* [[Lists of dictionaries]]
* [[Thesaurus]]
* [[Dreaming of Words]]
* [[Vocable (lexicography)]]
* [[Thumb index]]
}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book |title= Manual of Specialised Lexicography: The Preparation of Specialised Dictionaries |editor1-first= Henning |editor1-last= Bergenholtz |editor1-link= Henning Bergenholtz |editor2-first= Sven |editor2-last=Tarp |year= 1995 |publisher= John Benjamins Publishing |location= Amsterdam |isbn=90-272-1612-6}}
* {{cite web |url=http://angli02.kgw.tu-berlin.de/lexicography/data/b_history.html |title=A Brief History of English Lexicography |access-date=17 December 2010 |last1= Erdmann |first1= Peter |last2= Cho |first2= See-Young |publisher=Technische Universität Berlin
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080309181613/http://angli02.kgw.tu-berlin.de/lexicography/b_history.html |archive-date=9 March 2008}}
* {{cite book |title=Dictionaries: The Art and Craft of Lexicography |last= Landau|first=Sidney I.|author-link=Sidney I. Landau |edition=2nd |year= 2001 |orig-year=1984 |publisher= Cambridge University Press|location= Cambridge|isbn= 0-521-78040-3}}
* {{cite book |title= The Bilingual LSP Dictionary: Principles and Practice for Legal Language|last= Nielsen|first= Sandro|author-link= Sandro Nielsen |year= 1994|publisher= Gunter Narr|location= Tübingeb|isbn= 3-8233-4533-8}}
* {{Cite journal |author = Nielsen, Sandro |year = 2008 |title = The Effect of Lexicographical Information Costs on Dictionary Making and Use | journal = Lexikos |volume = 18 |issn= 1684-4904 |pages = 170–189 }}
*Atkins, B.T.S. & Rundell, Michael (2008) ''The Oxford Guide to Practical Lexicography'', Oxford: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-927771-1}}
* {{cite book |title= [[The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary]]|last= Winchester |first= Simon |author-link=Simon Winchester |year= 1998|publisher= HarperPerennial|location=New York |isbn= 0-06-099486-X}} (published in the UK as ''The Surgeon of Crowthorne'').
* {{cite book|editor=P. G. J. van Sterkenburg|title=A practical guide to lexicography|year=2003|publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company|isbn=978-1-58811-381-8}}

== Further reading ==
* Guy Jean Forgue, "[https://www.persee.fr/issue/rfea_0397-7870_1983_num_18_1 The Norm in American English", ''Revue Française d'Etudes Americaines''], Nov 1983, Vol. 8 Issue 18, pp. 451–461. An international appreciation of the importance of Webster's dictionaries in setting the norms of the English language.

==External links==
{{wiktionary|dictionary|wordbook}}
* [http://www.oup.com/elt/catalogue/teachersites/oald7/more_on_dicts/glossary?cc=global Glossary of dictionary terms] by the [[Oxford University Press]]
* {{Wikisource-inline|list=
** {{Cite Collier's|wstitle=Dictionary|short=x|noicon=x}}
** {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Dictionary|short=x |noicon=x}}
** {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Dictionary|year=1905|short=x |noicon=x}}
** [[s:Category:Language|Wikisource:Language]] (directory of language-related works on Wikisource – includes dictionaries)
}}
{{Prone to spam|date=June 2012}}
<!--     {{No more links}}

       Please be cautious adding more external links.

Wikipedia is not a collection of links and should not be used for advertising.

     Excessive or inappropriate links will be removed.

 See [[Wikipedia:External links]] and [[Wikipedia:Spam]] for details.

If there are already suitable links, propose additions or replacements on
The article's talk page, or submit your link to the relevant category at
The "long dead (2017)" Open Directory Project (dmoz.org) and link there using {{Dmoz}}.

-->

{{Lexicography}}
{{Dictionaries of English}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Dictionaries| ]]
[[Category:Lexicography]]
[[Category:Reference works]]