Library Guides: How do I find reference sources?: Dictionaries

Starting Points - Dictionaries

Below are some starting points for dictionaries. Dictionaries for languages other than English and discipline-specific dictionaries can be found on our subject guides.

Oxford English Dictionary This link opens in a new window
The accepted authority on the evolution of the English language over the last millennium. It is an unsurpassed guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of over half a million words, both present and past. It traces the usage of words through 2.5 million quotations from a wide range of international English language sources, from classic literature and specialist periodicals to film scripts and cookery books.
Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new window
Provides access to over 120 language and subject dictionaries, reference works, and biographical directories in a variety of disciplines published by OUP that can be searched individually or in one cross-searchable database.
Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Selection of reference books including encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri and books of quotations, as well as a range of subject-specific titles covering everything from art to accountancy and literature to law.

Other Dictionaries

You can locate dictionaries for specific languages or subjects by using the advanced search in the Library Catalog.

For language dictionaries, enter the subject terms "[language] languages dictionaries". For example:

English language dictionaries - English dictionaries
English language dictionaries slang - English slang dictionaries
English language dictionaries Australia - Australian English dictionaries
Japanese language dictionaries English - Japanese to English dictionaries
Hebrew language dictionaries French - Hebrew to French dictionaries
Russian language Rhyme Dictionaries - Rhyming dictionaries in Russian

For subject dictionaries, enter "dictionaries" as a subject term with additional keywords such as a discipline, era or event, occupation, etc.

United States Civil War Dictionaries
Dictionaries Chemistry
Economics Dictionaries
Shakespeare Dictionaries

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