DICTIONARY

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Dr. Goodword
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DICTIONARY

Postby Dr. Goodword » Sun Sep 14, 2008 11:12 pm

• dictionary •

Pronunciation: dik-shê-ne-ri • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: 1. A large collection of words and phrases of a language with their definitions, origins, pronunciation, orthography, and other relevant information. 2. A large collection of words and phrases with their translations into another language.

Notes: We were saving this word for Dictionary Day next year, but last week the venerable Oxford English Dictionary (OED) celebrated its 80th birthday and we thought today's word would be a suitable present. This dictionary started at the Philological Society of London in 1857 with the collection of slips of paper with words and definitions sent from all over Britain and, later, from all the major English-speaking Nations. One of the most prolific contributors was W. C. Minor, an American surgeon who was an inmate in Broadmoor Asylum for the Criminally Insane at the time.

In Play: In 1879 the Oxford University Press agreed to publish the OED but the final fascicle was published only in 1928, which is why we are celebrating the OED's 80th anniversary this year. As of 2005, the OED contained 301,100 entries and a total of 616,500 word-forms (works, worked, working are forms of the entry work). The words and their citations go back to Anglo-Saxon times, as early as the mid 12th century. It has become the foremost lexical institution of the English language.

Word History: Today's Good Word comes from Medieval Latin dictionarium "a collection of words and phrases", based on Latin dictio(n) "diction" + -arium "place of", as in aquarium and planetarium. We find this suffix in its English guise in words like library, mortuary, and glossary. Dictio, dictionis comes from the verb dicere "to say". We find the root of this verb in many words borrowed from Latin: interdict, abdicate, and verdict, to mention just three. The original root that developed into dicere in Latin became teach in English. (We would like to wish the OED the happiest of birthdays, congratulations on a fantastic job of lexical compilation, and best wishes for continued success. Click here for information on the short version.)
Last edited by Dr. Goodword on Tue Sep 16, 2008 11:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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gailr
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Postby gailr » Tue Sep 16, 2008 1:14 am

I was lured in by the thread title...

:twisted:

Perry
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Postby Perry » Tue Sep 16, 2008 9:18 am

If it was dictionaroi, it would have been the king of diction. :wink:
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Postby engineer27 » Tue Sep 16, 2008 9:54 am

In the midwest, I'm sure the DictionArroyo might be a popular tourist destination.

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Postby sluggo » Tue Sep 16, 2008 9:40 pm

If it was dictionaroi, it would have been the king of diction. :wink:
From the French diction à roi*, made famous by Louis XIV with his arrogant declaration "Le glot, c'est moi!"

*A dark phrase from the always perky French press.
They ran it into the grounds.:roll:
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