Anonymous
Posted January 16, 2002
This is a fine dictionary, and the CD-ROM version makes it available while you're working on the PC. When you want, it looks up the word highlighted in e-mail, web browser, word processor, etc., or you can enter words manually. There aren't any hyperlinks, but you can copy and paste words from the definition into the search window, to follow a train of thought.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 13, 2001
As a librarian and a word lover I had despaired of finding a dictionary to replace my treasured AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY, 6th edition, which is out of print and out of date, but still the best available. This dictionary is remarkable for its coverage, clarity, and scope. I am recommending it to all my colleagues and presenting it as a gift to my friends and each member of my family. Thanks to all who contributed to this wonderful reference tool!
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More About This Textbook
Overview
As Oxford's flagship American dictionary, the New Oxford American Dictionary sets the standard of excellence for lexicography in this country. With more than 350,000 words, phrases, and senses, hundreds of explanatory notes, and more than a thousand illustrations, this dictionary provides the most comprehensive and accurate coverage of American English available.
The dictionary draws on the two-billion-word Oxford English Corpus and the unrivaled citation files of the world-renowned Oxford English Dictionary to provide the most accurate and richly descriptive picture of American English ever offered in any dictionary. The Third Edition offers a thoroughly updated text, with revisions throughout and approximately 2,000 new words, phrases, and meanings. Many new words relate to fast-moving areas such as computing, technology, current affairs, and ecology, while others have recently entered the popular lexicon. Usage notes have been updated in light of the most recent Corpus evidence, and a completely new in-text feature on Word Trends charts usage for rapidly changing words and phrases such as carbon, mobile, or tweet. In addition, the volume has an attractive, modern new text design that makes entries easier to read and find.
One of the hallmarks of the New Oxford American Dictionary is the way it reflects the living language. Unlike in more traditional dictionaries, where meanings are ordered chronologically according to the history of the language, each entry plainly shows the principal meaning or meanings of the word, organized by importance in today's English. Thus readers can be confident that the first definition they see is the one most likely to be used by people today, and is not a sense that has been obsolete for two centuries.
Offering clear, authoritative, and precise information, with the in-depth and up-to-date coverage that users need and expect, the New Oxford American Dictionary is the benchmark by which all other American dictionaries are measured.
Containing more than 350,000 words, phrases, and definitions of current American English.
Editorial Reviews
From Barnes & Noble
This new dictionary has more than 300,000 entries, compiled using the expertise of Oxford University Press's renowned dictionary department. Oxford's speciality is etymology, and this dictionary provides some of the best word histories available. It also features precise usage guidance, such as Informal, Derogatory, Humorous, and Dated.From the Publisher
"It runs more than 2,000 pages and weighs upward of 800 pounds, so will need one forklift or three sumo wrestlers to hoist it, but you will love this gorilla once you get to know it."--James Kilpatrick, "Writers Life"
"Includes some unique and useful extras."--School Library Journal Curriculum Connections
"NOAD is an eminently usable dictionary with an attractive layout; clear, crisp illustrations; usage guidance; and synonyms with connotations. Sure to be everyone's favorite dictionary! Summing up: Essential."--Choice
"More current than its closest rival in size....This is a 'buy.'"--Booklist STARRED REVIEW
"Erudite, accessible....If you're looking for a desk dictionary that covers the spectrum of American English, with a fair quantity of encyclopaedic information thrown in, you could do a lot worse." --World Wide Words
"Ms. McKean had been dubbed "America's lexicographical sweetheart" by National Public Rasio's program "Talk of the Nation.""--The New York Times
Reviews for the previous edition: "The gold standard of American dictionaries."--The Providence Journal
"With its unique approach to language, this is easy to use and provides clear, well-written definitions. "--Library Journal.
"Oxford has always been so good at dictionaries, and lexicographical publishing needs a boost after Random House suddenly abandoned the field.... I'd give the New Oxford American Dictionary to a person looking for a quick answer."--William Safire, The New York Times.
"In both definitions & pronounciations the dictionary emphasizes American English.... This is a useful quick-reference type of dictionary."--Houston Chronicle
"The New Oxford American Dictionary offers the most dependable reference information."--Seattle Times.
"Utilizing the latest techniques for analyzing word usage and meaning, the editors have compiled more than 250,000 definitions and 9000 biographical and geographical entries in an accessible resource with a distinctly American voice....An understated presentation exuding precision and authority, it is an essential tool."--School Library Journal [STARRED REVIEW]
"One of the best American-English dictionaries to come out in several years...This is a handy and not overly expensive dictionary to have on hand at the reference desk of academic and public libraries."--American Reference Book Annual 2002
"Its editor, Erin McKean, is, according to American newspaper reports, the hippest and sexiest lexicographer around. It's also the first such work... with an electronic edition accessible on the road, since it can be downloaded to your Palm, Blackberry, or Windows mobile device."--World Wide Words
"Unrivaled etymological information revealing fascinating word histories."--Tampa Tribune
"A labor of love and an unparalelled gift to writers and readers worldwide, the New Oxford American Dictionary should be on the reference shelf of every library." - Library Journal
"Remains true to its initial concent of being an easy-to-use single volume of words that reflect today's soceity...Recommended." --Choice
Library Journal
Providing the most thorough coverage of American English, the third edition of this dictionary from Oxford is a welcome arrival. With an emphasis on English as an international language, the dictionary has been updated with 2000 new words, senses, and phrases, including words whose meanings have undergone societal and technological change, such as bookmark, browse, and favorite. Updated proper names are also included (Mumbai instead of Bombay), as are entries for informal language and slang. The Oxford English Corpus with its two-million-word database has been fruitfully mined to offer a greater number of words currently in use than in any other comparable dictionary. Unlike the traditional arrangement of definitions by historical usage, this dictionary arranges definitions by most current usage and provides additional guidance in usage notes. Although U.S. English is the focus here, regionalisms from other English-speaking areas are also included. More than 1000 illustrations (e.g., photos, drawings, diagrams) clarify definitions. To construct this tome, a wide variety of subject consultants shared their expertise with Oxford's able staff. BOTTOM LINE A labor of love and an unparalleled gift to writers and readers worldwide, the New Oxford American Dictionary should be on the reference shelves of every library.—Marilyn Searson Lary, formerly with North Georgia Coll. & State Univ., DahlonegaChoice
Oxford's new dictionary not only examines modern American English vocabulary and usage, but presents a new model of how dictionaries may be written...Entries have a clean appearance; definitions are readable and understandable...A well-designed dictionary, recommended for all libraries.William Safire
Oxford has always been so good at dictionaries, and lexographical publishing ...I'd give NOAD to a person looking for a quick answer.Library Journal
In this new dictionary, Jewell (editor of numerous Penguin Book of Sunday Times Crosswords) and Abate (editor of The Pocket Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus) offer an atypical layout and a new approach to presenting definitions and meanings. They analyzed words using computational tools and distilled the definitions into "core" meanings. In a definition, each core meaning of a word is followed by several "subsenses," which provide subtle pictures of how a word's meaning can change, depending on the context. In the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (LJ 10/15/00, 4th ed.), for example, 16 possible meanings are listed for the verb "drag," which has only four "core" meanings here. Each core meaning, however, is followed by many subsenses. Thus, one definition for drag is to "pull (someone or something) along forcefully, roughly, or with difficulty." Nine subsenses follow this one core sense, such as "take someone to or from a place or event, despite their reluctance" and "move (an icon or other image) across a computer screen using a tool such as a mouse." Entries include grammatical information, numerous examples of how a word is used, word origins, some usage information, syllabication, and pronunciation. In addition to defining words, this also includes people and places and, finally, a set of "Ready Reference" appendixes, which cover everything from word usage and punctuation to the elements, hall of fame information, temperature, and selected proverbs. This section probably lends itself better to home than library use, but the only real problem with the dictionary is that the pronunciation guide is found only at the beginning, making it difficult for the user to refer to it quickly. With black-and-white and halftone illustrations, this is not as glossily attractive as the American Heritage and doesn't replace it since there are words and definitions in one that are not in the other. However, with its unique approach to language, this is easy to use and provides clear, well-written definitions. Recommended for most libraries. Cynthia A. Johnson, Barnard Coll. Lib., NY Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.Booknews
Most striking about this dictionary is its immediate reader friendliness: small but crystal clear type, entries with the spelled- out categories DERIVATIVES and ORIGIN, easy-to-find lexical categories, and occasionally, supplemental information about usage, events, or national histories. Eighteen appendices include the history of English, usage and punctuation guides, presidents with terms and party affiliation, selected proverbs, and hall-of- famers from America's major team sports (a list of Hollywood stars not included). Drawings of animals, maps of countries, and photos of famous figures (mostly political) punctuate the volume. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)Product Details
Related Subjects
Table of Contents
Preface to the Third Edition
Preface to the First Edition
Introduction
How to Use This Dictionary
Key to the Pronunciations
Key to the Abbreviations
The New Oxford American Dictionary
Ready Reference (in center)
Illustration Credits (at back)