Reference Resources: Dictionaries

Basic English Dictionaries

Oxford English Dictionary (M.U. only)
Traces the origin and historical use of every common word known to have been used in English since 1150.
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
Based on the print version of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th edition. The site includes audio files with word pronunciations and a thesaurus.
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The online dictionary includes the main A-Z listing of the Collegiate Dictionary, as well as the Abbreviations, Foreign Words and Phrases, Biographical Names, and Geographical Names sections of that book. It also includes 1,000 illustrations and 25 tables. Selected sections of the print Collegiate Dictionary, notably the Signs and Symbols section, are omitted from the online Collegiate Dictionary.
American Heritage
Basic, authoritative, dictionary of the American Language.
The Century Dictionary Online
Still considered by some scholars to be the greatest American dictionary of all time. After the 1914 edition, however, it was dropped by the Century Company and ceased publication.

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