Guide to the dictionary
Understanding dictionary entries
How to search Oxford Dictionaries Premium
How to change the site language
All about example sentences
All about audio pronunciations
Understanding dictionary entries |
Homonyms
A dictionary entry may contain more than one homonym – words that are spelled the same, but which have different origins. The navigation at the top of these entries (for example bank) allows you to preview other homonyms and jump between them.
Headword
The usual spelling of a word is given as the headword at the top of its entry. If there are also common variant spellings of a word, these are given underneath. Where a plural form is irregular (i.e. it does not end with -s), this is also given underneath.
Line breaks/syllabification
In the British & World English dictionary most words have line break information included, showing editors where best to break these words at the end of lines. In the US English dictionary syllabification information is given.
Pronunciation
For many words both written and audio pronunciations are given. In the British & world English dictionary pronunciations are written in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA); in the US dictionary these are given using a respelling system. More information on pronunciations can be found here.
Parts of speech
Each word is organized into one or more parts of speech (e.g. noun, verb, adjective, etc.). If a word has more than one part of speech the primary one is listed first.
Senses of verbs are labelled as With Object or No Object, indicating if they are transitive or intransitive respectively. Inflections of verbs (e.g. for throw: throws, throwing, threw, thrown) are given where these are irregular.
Senses
Each part of speech for each word has a definition for at least one core sense, a typical, central use of the word. To each of these may be attached one or more related subsenses with their own definitions.
Example sentences
Most senses have one or more example sentences following the definition. These are illustrations of that sense taken from real English. Selecting More Example Sentences will display further examples. More information on example sentences can be found here.
Derivatives
Common derivatives of the word and phrasal verbs involving the word are given in sections below the main senses.
Origin
The origin section gives the etymology or history of a word – the language from which it was brought into English, the period at which it is first recorded in English, and the development of its modern form.
Rhymes
Many entries include a list of words that rhyme with the word looked up. These lists are selected based on how the words are pronounced in UK received pronunciation.
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How do I enter special characters, for example accents?
You do not need to enter accented letters in the search box in order to find words which contain accents. A search for cafe finds cafe, café, Cafe, Café, CAFE, and CAFÉ. However, if you wish to enter accented characters in French, German, Italian, and Spanish, click on the virtual keyboard below the search box. To enter accented characters on a smartphone or tablet, tap and hold down the letter required on the device’s keyboard, and a list of accented characters will appear.
How do I search the Chinese dictionary?
You can search our Chinese-English dictionary either by copying and pasting in Chinese characters or by using pinyin.
How do I search the Russian dictionary?
You can search in the Russian-English dictionary either by copying and pasting in Russian characters or by using the dropdown Russian keyboard in the search bar.
How do I search the Arabic dictionary?
You can search the Arabic-English dictionary by copying and pasting in Arabic characters or by using the dropdown Arabic keyboard in the search bar. Our unique search tool also allows you to search with and without vowels returning all potential results.
Can I use wildcard searching?
The wildcard ? represents any single character (so l?t matches let, lit, lot) and the wildcard * represents one or more characters (so l*t matches let, lit, lot, and also last, light, lament, lepidopterist, and so on). Please note that the site currently does not allow a wildcard as the first character of a search.
Where is advanced search?
Instead of advanced search, the site now offers a much faster, integrated search of all the dictionary and grammar content on premium.oxforddictionaries.com. It also features an autocomplete function, which allows you to find definitions, synonyms, translations, and grammar help quickly.
How to change the site language |
How do I switch between the different versions of the site?
The site is available in multiple language versions including French, Italian, Spanish, German, Russian, Portuguese, and Chinese.
To see which version of the site you are accessing and to change the version you view, see the label in the bottom left of the page.
What is the difference between the US English and UK English versions of the site?
The US version follows US English writing and spelling conventions, and features content tailored for countries that follow US English conventions. The UK English version of the site is based on British English writing and spelling conventions.
The UK English version of the site uses The Oxford Dictionary of English and Oxford Thesaurus of English and the US English version of the site uses the New Oxford American Dictionary and the Oxford American Writers’ Thesaurus.
Both English versions of the site, however, feature exceptional coverage of English around the world, including British, Australian, Scottish, Irish, Indian, South African, US, and Canadian English – with each regional usage clearly labelled.
All about example sentences |
Please note: All the examples sentences throughout the site are real examples of usage. They are taken from a huge variety of different sources, from all parts of the world where English is used, and they reflect a wide spectrum of views and levels of language. Opinions and views expressed in the usage examples are the views of the individuals concerned and are not endorsed by Oxford University Press.
English example sentences
Oxford Dictionaries English offers access to a unique resource – a vast bank of more than 1.9 million example sentences (around 38 million words) of real English, extracted from the world’s newspapers and magazines, academic journals, fiction, and blogs.
There are hundreds of thousands of English headwords and senses in Oxford Dictionaries Premium, and almost every one of these words, senses, and phrases has been linked to a selection of up to 20 extra examples from the databank. If a word or phrase has more than one meaning, each individual sense is linked to its own set of example sentences.
Where do I find the Example Sentences section on the site?
Example sentences are integrated with dictionary definitions. Click on ‘More example sentences’ within each entry to see a few examples.
All about audio pronunciations |
How do I listen to English audio pronunciations?
Click on the grey loudspeaker icon to the right of a headword to hear the headword. Pronunciations will be played using Flash (if installed, and if JavaScript is enabled) as this gives best results. If Flash has not been installed, your default audio player will be used instead, and open up a separate pop-up window.
I can’t hear anything when I click on the audio icon – what should I do?
Please make sure that sound is enabled on your computer, and that the Mute box has not been checked.
For best results, you should install Flash or download the latest plugin. If you cannot download the latest Flash plugin, you should make sure that you have the latest version of whichever audio player is already installed on your computer. We recommend either QuickTime or Windows Media Player. If you still cannot hear any sound, you may need to change some options in your browser.
How do I listen to pronunciations for the other languages on the site?
Click on the grey loudspeaker icon to the right of the headword or example sentence to hear a text to speech pronunciation.
A useful guide to each dictionary, detailing the available resources for each language, is also available here:
