The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (2 Vol. Set; Thumb Indexed Edition)

For The Past Sixtyfive Years, The Massive Oxford English Dictionary Has Offered The Last Word On The English Language. Now, Oxford University Press Is Pleased To Announce A Landmark New Dictionarythe New Shorter Oxford English Dictionarythat Brings The Authority Of The Oxford Dictionary Department And The Vast Scholarship Of The Oed Itself Within The Reach Of Individuals.This Completely New Dictionary Covers Virtually Every Word Or Phrase In Use In Englishworldwidesince 1700. Not Strictly An Abridgment Of The Oed, The New Shorter Draws On The Oed'S Ongoing Revision As Well As Its Own Independent Research Program. Each Entry Provides All The Information You Would Expect From A Leading Unabridged Dictionary: It Identifies Each Word'S Various Meanings, Origins, Part Of Speech, Pronunciation (In The International Phonetic Alphabet), And Combinations In Which The Word Is Often Found, As Well As Crossreferences To Related Words. The New Shorter, However, Offers Something That No Competitor Can Match: The Historical, Literary Approach Made Justly Famous By The Oed. Thousands Upon Thousands Of Changing Meanings Are Followed Through History, Illustrated By More Than 83,000 Quotations, From Ben Franklin To Lord Byron, From Jane Austen To Kazuo Ishiguro. The Changing Emphasis In The Meaning Of Fiend, For Instance, Is Shown By Quotes Ranging From Milton (The Gates...Belching Outrageous Flame...Since The Fiend Pass'D Through) To J.D. Salinger (Old Brossard Was A Bridge Fiend, And He Started Looking Around The Dorm For A Game).The Historical Approach Of The New Shorter Offers A True Feel For Our Rich, Subtly Textured Language. Words Are A Palimpsest: Along With Their Current Meanings, Many Words Contain The Shadows Of Their Past Definitions. Understanding A Word'S History Can Help Writers And Speakers Charge Their Language With Nuance As Well As Precision. The New Shorter Offers A Delightful Introduction To The Fruits Of Etymology, Providing A Fascinating Guide To The Evolution Of Languagefor Both Scholars And Those Who Need A Practical Aid To Contemporary Usage.In Addition, The New Shorter Offers Truly Internationaland Uptodatecoverage. Every Year, The Oxford Dictionary Department Receives More Than 200,000 Notices Of New Words And Meanings. These Notices Come From The United States, Great Britain, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Indiaeverywhere English Is Spoken. As A Result, This Twovolume Work Boasts An Unprecedented Range Of Headwords And Meanings, Drawn From The Arts And Humanities As Well As The Sciences And Technology. From Molecular Biology To Computer Software, From Human Anthropology To Theoretical Physics, The Subjects Covered In This Dictionary Make It A Useful Resource For Scientific Professionalsand For The Unscientific Struggling With Technical Terms.The Result Is The World'S Most Comprehensive, Thorough, Uptodate Dictionary Of English. A Fascinating And Endlessly Browsable Reference, The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary Provides The Definitive Resource For Scholars, Professionals, General Readersfor Anyone, In Fact, Who Wants The Wealth Of Language Available Only In An Unabridged Dictionary.Features:Bl The Immense Scholarship Of The Oxford English Dictionary Brought Within Reach Of Everyone:* 2 Volumes* 500,000 Definitions* 7.5 Million Words* 4,000 Pages* 97,600 Headwords* 25,250 Variant Spellings* 87,400 Illustrative Quotations* 7,333 Sources Of Quotations(Including 5,519 Individual Authors)Bl Combines Information From The Oed With The Work Of A Massive Research Project, Offering Thousands Of Fresh Entries And New Definitionsbl Uptotheminute Coverage Of Englishreaching Back To 1700With Thousands Of New Words From A Worldwide Monitoring Programbl Thorough, Completely Current Scientific Coveragebl Traces The Etymology And Evolution Of Thousands Of Worlds (Candidate, For Instance, Stems From A Latin Word Meaning Clothed Un White, As Roman Candidates For P