Product Description

The Concise Oxford English Dictionary is the most popular dictionary of its kind around the world and is noted for its clear, concise definitions as well as its comprehensive and authoritative coverage of the vocabulary of the English-speaking world. Authoritative and up to date, this eleventh edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary contains over 240,000 words, phrases, and definitions, including 900 new words. It offers rich vocabulary coverage, with full treatment of World English, rare, historical, and archaic terms, as well as scientific and technical vocabulary, and provides hundreds of helpful notes on grammar and usage. New to this edition is a fascinating Word Histories feature, detailing the origins and development of 100 words, such as accolade and candid. This dictionary contains full appendices on topics such as alphabets, currencies, electronic English, and the registers of language, from formal to slang, plus a useful Guide to Good English with advice on grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #590212 in Books
• Published on: 2004-10-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 1728 pages

Review

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Review

"This mini-edition of a giant known as the OED claims to pack the authority of the original into a handy size ideal for use in schools, offices, and at home."--Library Journal

Customer Reviews

Excellent balance between brevity, clarity and depth
After a pair of 11th edition dud copies (random sections of pages were mysteriously separating from their binding in chunks of ten or so by nothing more than a light tug or page turn), I finally got a copy that I think will be a keeper.

I love this dictionary. There is something special about it. The definitions are as advertised: clear and concise, yet they do not "dumb down" or leave detail or nuance out of the definitions...and YET AGAIN, you are not going to get into crazy bouts of looking up words within words like with dictionaries that obviously try hard to "sound academic," like the American Heritage College dictionary (which seemingly throws all of it's effort into inserting as many "ten dollar word" synonyms as possible into it's definitions).

This is a much more comfortable, much more clear, much more DELIGHTFUL volume.

As another contrast, I notice in the Oxford American dictionary a sort of attempt to...oh...perhaps dumb down the definitions. But too often what you read comes off as a bit convoluted or "off," like they are uncomfortably contorting to conform to some image of what the American reader thinks, knows or will readily comprehend...in other words, it feels awkward, like a Brit saying "dude" or an American saying "chuffed."

So, yes, you are going to get British terms/slang in here, but really it's no big deal when contrasted with the free and easy clarity of most all definitions in the volume.

"Easy reading is damn hard writing." - Nathaniel Hawthorne

By that metric, there has clearly been significant effort involved in the creation and maintenance of this volume. It IS easy reading, and yet it's not DUMBED-DOWN reading by any measure. Quite a special and commendable accomplishment.

This revised edition only improves upon the feel (in terms of the definitions themselves) of my previous edition, the ninth.

Hopefully OUP will sort out the quality control issues so that more people will get (and keep) this fine, fine dictionary.

The best dictionary I have ever owned!
Few dictionaries costing under $100 contain any of the more exotic vocabulary I occasionally want to look up. For example, if you read H. P. Lovecraft's tales, sooner or later you will be driven to look up the exact definition of "eldritch". Most affordable dictionaries seem made with the assumption that their users will never try to read above a junior high school level or become curious about unusual words.

I keep my dictionary on a desk next to my computer. It's a small desk, so the book's footprint is an issue. Weight and thickness matter because I have small hands and am unwilling to struggle with a volume I could use as an end table in my living room. The creators of this reference have kept its mass and dimensions under control while providing me with a reference that has so
far clearly and simply defined every English word I sought.

This is a gem of a dictionary at a bargain price!

Lots of entries, but not enough depth.
The Concise OED is a great way to own a bit of the OED without the expense of the 20 volume set, or even the Shorter OED. It certainly contains a wealth of entries and is quite up-to-date with newer words and phrases.

Buying a dictionary is tricky; they each have their own flavor. The Concise OED contains more entries than others, but lacks in its depth of definitions. For instance, the dictionary makes no distinction between "farther" and "further". However, my son's American Heritage Student Dictionary contains a helpful sidebar explaining the usage difference. Ultimately, the "concise" nature of this edition seems to apply to its word definitions. I think most have been trimmed too much.

Another frustrating aspect is the pronunciations. They are presented in The International Phonetic Alphabet and look like greek for the most part. If you are unfamiliar with this system, it is a real pain to flip back and forth to the key to determine pronunciations.

Additionally, the Concise OED is lacking in good etymologies for most words, something I enjoy reading.

On the plus side, it's a big book, but comfortable enough to sit and enjoy browsing. Definitions are plain and simple. Any lover of language and words will find it a fine addition to his reference library, but will need to supplement it with other dictionaries. I recommend the American Heritage a bit more for its casual manner and ease of reading.