Writer's Choice Grade 11

Unit 24: Using Dictionaries

Overview

You probably couldn't carry a dictionary that contains all the words in the English language. The Oxford English Dictionary, one of the most famous unabridged dictionaries, consists of more than 15,000 pages in 20 separate volumes. You probably couldn't afford it, either, as it retails for more than $900.

Unabridged dictionaries can contain as many as 500,000 entries and are found in most libraries. A standard college dictionary is more practical for everyday use. Most have more than 150,000 word definitions as well as lists of abbreviations, biographical and geographic names, foreign words and phrases, and measurements.

Today you can also find dictionaries on CD-ROM or on the Internet. These electronic dictionaries allow you to search for words and can offer possible spellings of words you aren't sure how to spell.

Specialized dictionaries on a wide variety of topics give you more in-depth information about words in a particular field. The most commonly used specialized dictionary is the thesaurus. A thesaurus provides synonyms so you can choose a word with just the right meaning. You may access a thesaurus electronically, either on CD-ROM, via the Internet, or in a word processing program.