The Oxford English Dictionary (20 Volume Set) by J. A. Simpson, John Simpson (Editor), Edmund S. Weiner (Editor), Edmund S. C. Weiner

From the Publisher

Eighty years ago, the "greatest work in dictionary-making ever undertaken" was completed. And with its enormous range, unparalleled historical depth, detailed etymologies, and inexhaustible supply of illustrative quotations, it has enriched the lives of writers, readers, and word-lovers of all stripes ever since. Begun in 1857, published in ten volumes in 1928, subsequently revised and expanded to 20 volumes in 1989, and now adopted to the electronic age, the OED has become the most venerated and most beloved English-language reference ever compiled.
The key feature of the OED, of course, is its unique historical focus. Accompanying each definition is a chronologically arranged group of quotations that illustrate the evolution of meaning from the word's first recorded usage and show the contexts in which it can be used. The quotations are drawn from a huge variety of sources—literary, scholarly, technical, popular-and represent authors as disparate as Geoffrey Chaucer and Erica Jong, William Shakespeare and Raymond Chandler, Charles Darwin and John Le Carre. In all, nearly 2.5 million quotations—illustrating over a half-million words—can be found in the OED. Other features distinguishing the entries in the dictionary are the most authoritative definitions, detailed information on pronunciation, variant spellings throughout each word's history, extensive treatment of etymology, and details of area of usage and of any regional characteristics (including geographical origins).
A dictionary like no other in the world, the OED has been described as "among the wonders of the world of scholarship." Reflecting upon the Dictionary's 80 years, that statement istoday more apt than it ever has been.
Also available online at: www.oed.com

Time Magazine

A scholarly Everest.

What People Are Saying

Thomas Brennan
Thomas Brennan, owner, The Book Review, Atlanta, GA.

Rummaging through the OED is as addicting as any narcotic. I ordered it originally to sell in my bookshop because I thought it would make a substantial statement about the quality of my books. Within a couple of months, though, I decided I treasured it too much to sell and took it home to keep.

David Foster Wallace
David Foster Wallace, Novelist

Listen: the OED is priceless. The only disadvantage it's got is that the entries are so interesting and chocked with subsidiary info that sometimes what was originally supposed to be a quick one-word dash to the dictionary becomes a two-hour perusal of cross-references and ramifications and etymologies and the sorts of illustrative sentences that make your saliva flow with sheer interest.

Product Details

• ISBN: 0198611862
  
• ISBN-13: 9780198611868
• Format: Hardcover, 22000pp
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Pub. Date: March 1989
• Edition Description: Special Value
• Edition Number: 2
• Sales Rank: 190,845