Explore Oxford Dictionaries Premium

Complementary to the definitions and example sentences of our dictionary content, the Explore section of Oxford Dictionaries Premium is filled with facts and information about words and language. This part of the site provides everything from unusual word origins to lists of weird and wonderful words, answering your language questions and giving linguistic food for thought.

Explore wordlists

Whether you're playing word games, interested in words which break common spelling rules, or simply want to make your language more literary, this page has the wordlists you're looking for. Discover unusual phobias, the corresponding British word for an Americanism (or vice versa), and more.

Discover fascinating word origins

Do you the origins of the words snob, loo, and ok? Explore the theories in this section, which looks at the unusual or debated origins of everyday words and expressions.

Play games

Test your knowledge of spelling and see how well you know how to use apostrophes. Our interactive games have different difficulty levels, so there is something to test everyone.

Get answers to your language questions

Here you'll find answers to all the language questions you've always wondered about.

Are there any words that rhyme with orange? What is the opposite of nocturnal? What is the longest word in the English language? These and dozens more vocabulary questions are addressed.

Find out how we decide whether or not a new word should be included in an Oxford Dictionary, how dictionaries have changed over the years, and more about the creating and updating of dictionaries.

From the history of English to specific queries about English usage, your questions are answered here.

Discover the different names for the # symbol, the origin of $ sign, and more.

Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable? Is a coconut a nut? Is a nut a fruit? We give the answers you've been looking for.