Finding Dictionaries and Encyclopedias: English language dictionaries
How to find dictionaries
Finding an English language dictionary through USearch can sometimes be a bit tricky. A simple keyword search for "dictionary" brings up hundreds of thousands of results. These can include medical dictionaries, dictionaries of philosophy, quotations, idioms, American Sign Language, dinosaurs, retailing, and more.
Your best bet when using USearch is to search by title for the specific dictionary that you want. The book with that title should appear at the top of the results list.
If you don't have a specific title in mind, the quickest way to find all of the English language dictionaries that we have available is to do a subject search in the library's catalogue for "English Language - Dictionaries".
(To see which dictionaries we have in other languages, simply replace the term "English" in your search with any other language.)
- Search results for English Language - DictionariesThe University Library has over 400 English language dictionaries.
Print dictionaries
Canadian Oxford DictionaryCall Number: PE3235 .C36 2004Publication Date: 2005Available in print and online.
Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus of Current EnglishCall Number: PE1625 .O.89 2007Publication Date: 2007
Online dictionaries
- Merriam Webster Online DictionaryA free online English dictionary.
- Gale Literature Resource Center (GLRC)Click on "More" on the right side of the screen, and then choose the "Dictionaries" icon to search in the online version of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.
- Oxford English Dictionary (OED Online)
The "accepted authority on the English language. It is an unsurpassed guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of 600,000 words past and present from across the English-speaking world. As a historical dictionary, the OED is very different from those of current English, in which the focus is on present-day meanings. You'll still find these in the OED, but you'll also find the history of individual words, and of the language traced through 3 million quotations, from classic literature and specialist periodicals to films scripts and cookery books."
- Encyclopaedia Britannica Online: Academic EditionComprehensive reference work including content from several resources: Encyclopaedia Britannica and Britannica Concise Encyclopedia articles as well as media, web sites, and videos. Magazines and journals are also available. Also includes dictionary and thesaurus as well as notable quotations from Merriam-Webster's Dictionary & Thesaurus.
Access Note: Mobile app with limited access available for iOS.