The New Oxford American Dictionary

The New Oxford American Dictionary | Great dictionary.

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The New Oxford Ame...

	The New Oxford American Dictionary Oxford University Press, USA, 2005 - 2096 pages average customer review:based on 29 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Produced by Oxford's American Dictionaries Program, and drawing on the expertise of scores of American scholars and advisors, The New Oxford American Dictionary sets the standard of excellence for lexicography in this country.

Here is the most accurate and richly descriptive picture of American English ever offered in any dictionary. Oxford's American editors drew on our 200-million-word databank of contemporary North American English, plus the unrivaled citation files of the world-renowned Oxford English Dictionary. We
started with American evidence--an unparalleled resource unique to Oxford. Our staff logged more than 50 editor-years, checking every entry and every definition. Oxford's ongoing North American Reading Program, begun in the early 1980s, keeps our lexicographers in touch with fresh evidence of our
language and usage--in novels and newspapers, in public records and magazines, and on-line, too.

To provide unprecedented clarity, the entries are organized around core meanings, reflecting the way people think about words and eliminating the clutter and confusion of a traditional dictionary entry. Each entry plainly shows the major meaning or meanings of the word, plus any related senses,
arranged in intuitive constellations of connected meanings. Definitions are supplemented by illustrative, in-context examples of actual usage.

This major new edition of The New Oxford American Dictionary includes a guide to the pronunciations on every page, a new etymology essay by Anatoly Liberman, completely updated and revised maps, and more than a thousand new entries, covering everything new in our language from low-carb to warblog
and beyond.

This edition of The New Oxford American Dictionary also includes a lexicographical first--a portable version of the entire dictionary that can be downloaded to your PDA or smartphone! Have the authority of The New Oxford American Dictionary at your fingertips, wherever you are. Keep the print
edition by your favorite reading chair and download the portable version to your phone or PDA, and you'll never be at a loss for words.
All Oxford American dictionaries use an easy-to-use respelling system to show how entries are pronounced. It uses simple, familiar markings to represent common American English sounds.
The New Oxford American Dictionary is designed to serve the user clearly, simply, and quickly, with the precise guidance you expect from Oxford University Press. With in-depth and up-to-date coverage that all users need and expect--for reading and study, for technical terms, for language
guidance--it continues the tradition of scholarship and lexicographic excellence that are the hallmarks of every Oxford dictionary.
Web Site

A companion web site is now available at www.oup.com/us/noad.

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Excellent !

Buying a dictionary is for me about getting enough words versus the size and weight of the book . With that in mind I find that I need a dictionary that has 250,000 words which this one has and with that comes a large heavy book . There just is no way to resolve this conflict . My only complaint is the photos of movie stars and presidents throughout. Why is this in there ? It will easily make the book dated in no time and more importantly seems to be sending a message that these are the really important people in the world.

Great dictionary.

My son wanted a dictionary so his grandmother wanted to get him one he would always have. This fits the bill nicely.

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Slightly disappointing, but still recommended

Disclaimer: I have not read this entire book ;-)

This is a great dictionary and if you want a _real_ dictionary that you can put on a PDA then the combined package is a terrific deal.

However... I bought this in large part for the software. I saw a version of this dictionary for MobiPocket at $60 that I wanted to use to look up words while reading eBooks. That seemed pretty steep. Then I found this. "Terrific", I thought.

Unfortunately, the software does _not_ integrate with MobiPocket as the $60 version presumably does.

Still, the software works well on its own, and I'm glad to have it. However... There are some entries missing from the electronic version, such as "Saturn". The definitions also suffer regular errors, such as the fact that alternative word forms are always run together with no space in between. In addition, the hyperlinks don't work. The application has also crashed once or twice and required a reboot of my device to get it to run again. (The device itself did not crash). The foregoing applies to Version 1.0 running on PocketPC 6.0.

The print dictionary is a little disappointing at first glance. It _does not_ include the word "euhemerism" and related words which _are_ included in my 1987 copy of "The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, 2nd Ed., Unabridged". Sure it's an oddball word. I don't buy a dictionary to look up words like "car" and "dog". So I won't be able to get rid of my old dictionary, but it did include every other oddball word I tried so I won't have to get too much exercize getting out of my chair and power-lifting another huge dictionary.

Despite the drawbacks, he book is of good quality (acid-free paper and all), contains a huge number of definitions, includes a PDA version far more complete than anything else I'm aware of, and the combination is a bargain at this price.

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A Great Dictionary

A very good dictionary. I really like the definitions. That said, it is very disappointing that such a high quality dictionary does not have an alphabetical index with cutouts for the index finger. Everytime you look a word up, you have to run through the alphabet and match it to the gray marks. If the dictionary were smaller, like novel size, then you could thumb through it, and it would not be that much of a burden. Had I known that, I would opted for another more user friendly dictionary.

Disappointed - compare first

CONSIDERATION: go to the Library or bookstore and compare before buying.

I was so eager to get a copy of the NOAD, based on one of the reviews in particular and on the generally excellent reviews, that I spent extra money to speed delivery (for a dictionary!).

I'm sadly disappointed.

I had hoped NOAD would top my old American Heritage Dictionary (AHD). I have loved the AHD for years but hoped to get even more etymologies from the NOAD. That was my main interest - to have the ultimate source for word origins in a reasonable tome, that is in a single manageable volume.

The NOAD has several flaws, by my lights:

1 - the etymologies are way too HARD to locate! you have to search carefully to find these. WHY??? They are too subtly denoted. ... the AHD etymologies are immediately locatable and pop out nicely without contrasting or competing with the main text. Also, judging from a few I've searched for, the AHD does a better job of summarizing the etymologies, making them more succinct and readable.

2 - unexpectedly, I find the too-white paper of the NOAD to be STARK (as in eye-straining) and too contrasty with the cheap-looking print. The over-white paper makes the graphics look cheaper. Also, I don't like the pictures being interspersed with the body of the dictionary; they break up the text in a cluttery way. ... the AHD has a pleasing off-white paper and the text is totally readable and comfortable on the eyes and the numerous graphics are neatly off to the side in a half column on each page.

I was surprised that the NOAD is not an inviting book to look at, as is the AHD. It's a subtle difference, but I definitely prefer the AHD (old one I have, anyway).

Perhaps I should have trusted my reaction to the NOAD cover: I was put off by the cold blue cover (red-white-blue motif, mostly blue) design. I had a suspicion that it foretold problems. I was right. But that's just my taste, maybe. I think not; but, I know tastes do vary.

I have only perused the NOAD for a half hour. Maybe I'll reassess my views later. But I doubt it.

If I put the AHD next to the NOAD, I am slightly repulsed by the NOAD and definitely attracted to the AHD, even with the cover removed. The NOAD coverless book is almost black.

A side note: the NOAD has no word roots in the back. Maybe that is way too esoteric for most users. But I kind of liked having those ancient roots available despite almost never using them. They gave the AHD an aura of depth and seriousness which, combined with the inviting and comfortably presented definitions made for a satisfying whole. Actually, they could have left the root section out; but somehow it was nice to know it was there just to remind me that language is sooooo ancient. The NOAD not having such diminishes it in my opinion.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

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