Welcome to the OED Online tour

The Oxford English Dictionary is widely regarded as the accepted authority on the English language. It is an unsurpassed guide to the history and meaning of 600,000 words— past and present—from across the English-speaking world. The new OED Online lets you explore every aspect of the history of English… …and the people, societies, and cultures that created it.

In this tour…. Getting started Searching the OED Exploring an entry The Historical Thesaurus Categories Timelines Sources

1. Getting started

The home page gives quick access to all the main OED Online functions... Create a personal ‘My OED’ account... …type a word or phrase in the ‘Quick search’ box to look up dictionary entries… …or use the ‘Browse’ links to explore different pathways through the English language.

…to keep a permanent store of favourite entries and searches... …and to manage site preferences.

Within the site, the ‘Quick search’ box is in the top bar… ‘My entries’ and ‘My searches’ keep track of your recent activity in OED Online… …and the ‘Browse’ links are in the top right corner.

…so you can easily return to any previous entry or search.

2. Searching the OED

Type a word or phrase in the ‘Quick search’ box…

Type a word or phrase in the ‘Quick search’ box…

The results list all the dictionary entries that match your search term… …and links to every occurrence of the term in OED definitions, quotations, etc. Click a result to view the full entry...

Use ‘Advanced Search’ to examine the full content of the OED…

…search by entries, senses, or quotations… …search for words and phrases anywhere in the OED text… …or use filters to study particular periods, subject areas, etc.

A results set can be refined by subject, date, etc…

…or you can view your results as a timeline. A results set can be refined by subject, date, etc…

3. Exploring an entry

There are dozens of things you can do with OED entries… …customize the way the entry is displayed…

…view pronunciation guides…

…hover over a cross-reference to see the definition…

…click a quotation title to see full details of the text… …or to see more of this author or work in the OED.

Each sense is linked directly to the Historical Thesaurus…

…and to other related senses throughout the dictionary.

Click ‘About this entry’… ‘In this entry’ gives quick access to every term covered in the current entry.

…to see a range of additional information, visualizations, and links.

Save the entry to ‘My OED’… …email to a friend… …download citation details… …or browse neighbouring entries.

4. The Historical Thesaurus

The Historical Thesaurus is a semantic index of the contents of the OED…

With the Historical Thesaurus, OED Online provides powerful new ways to explore language, history, and culture...

…almost every word, phrase, and meaning throughout the dictionary…

…covering more than 1,000 years of the English language.

Each dictionary sense is connected to its semantic class in the thesaurus…

…and a link to the thesaurus itself. …with direct links to equivalent terms elsewhere in the OED…

Within the thesaurus, all the terms in a class are listed in chronological order… …so you can trace the development of a concept over time. The tree on the left shows the location of this class in the thesaurus taxonomy… …you can browse the tree to explore related concepts.

From the thesaurus home page, you can browse the tree from the top levels downwards… …or search directly for a term.

…or search directly for a term.

Results show each class in which the search term occurs… …select a result to view the class in full…

Click any term to go directly to the corresponding sense in the dictionary.

5. Categories

‘Categories’ lets you explore the English language… …by subject area… …types of language use… …English around the world… Select a category… …or the roots of English.

Select a category…

…to see all the relevant terms in the OED.

6. Timelines

Explore the development of the English language over time…

…by subject area…

…English around the world…

…or the roots of English.

Select a category…

…to view its timeline. Hover over for more information…

Hover over for more information… …or click to go to full results.

Any set of results can be viewed as a timeline...

…and you can carry on refining a search in this view.

7. Sources

Find out about the sources of the OED’s quotation evidence…

…from Beowulf to the Daily Mail… …magazines, letters, diaries…

…travellers, novelists, naturalists… …and at least one alchemist.

Browse or sort the list…

…or search by name…

…or search by name… Select a source to see full details...

Each source record gives information about the writer or work… …analysis of works quoted in the OED…

…and indexes to entries and senses where each quotation appears.

Thank you for taking the OED Online tour. To find out more, visit OED Online at www.oed.com. More information » How to subscribe » Start using OED Online »