English Language Links
Dictionaries
- OneLook Dictionaries
- An invaluable multiple dictionary search engine that enables you to find definitions for all sorts of words. I am very pleased that my own International House of Logorrhea is one of the dictionaries used (though I derive no commercial benefit from OneLook).
- YourDictionary.com
- A very useful dictionary site including multilingual dictionaries, dictionaries on specialized topics and various other language-related resources.
- Dictionary.com
- A searchable online dictionary site with wordplay and multilingual resources.
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary 1913
- The Bibliomania searchable version of a copyright-expired dictionary.
Weird Words
- Dictionary of Difficult Words
- A searchable online dictionary with definitions taken from Robert H. Hill's text dictionary of the same name. Useful but rather outdated, and thus of greatest use when looking for obsolete terms from the 19th and early 20th centuries.
- SKB's Dictionary
- Not really a complete dictionary, but a very interesting collection of odd words accompanied by unusual quotes, stories, and etymological connections concerning many of them.
- Word Oddities
- Jeff Miller's list of words unique in some way, if you are interested in those sorts of things, as I am.
- Grandiloquent Dictionary
- A list of 1900 obscure words with definitions.
- Spizzerinctum
- A peculiar and very interesting quiz site where obscure words are used in context to tell a top news story each day.
- Luciferous Logolepsy
- A compilation of over 9000 obscure words with definitions.
- Funwords.com
- Martha Barnette's site of weird words, including her own published books on the subject.
- The Archive of Endangered, Special or Fun Words
- A compilation of readers' submissions of unique or interesting words.
Reference
- Rhyming Dictionary
- Ever wonder what rhymes with orange? Check it out here.
- Roget's Thesaurus
- OK, it's a 1911 version (75 year copyright limits apply), but this searchable version of the world's top thesaurus is still handy.
- Bartlett's Familiar Quotations
- Once again, an older version of a classic now in the public domain.
- Poetic Terms Glossary
- A useful glossary of terms. Not pretty, but pretty complete. I think that last sentence uses syllepsis.
- Wordexplorations.com
- A finely crafted site dedicated to studying Latin and Greek etymological connections with English, but also containing other very interesting linguistic resources. Very useful and user-friendly (paid members only).
- Roots of English Dictionary
- Free etymological dictionary software to allow you to find Greek and Latin word origins.
- Lexical Freenet
- A truly unique resource that defies easy description. A mega-meta-thesaurus that reveals the links and relationships between concepts, people and words. Try it!
- Moby Project
- A lexicon project that makes available dozens of word lists, including the world's largest raw English word list (without definitions).
Newsletters, E-zines, Mailing Lists
- Word of the Day Page
- Anu Garg's page supplementing his widely acclaimed word-a-day mailing list.
- Word Detective
- The online version of the syndicated newspaper column of the same name written by Evan Morris.
- World Wide Words
- The site for Michael Quinion's renowned and respected weekly newsletter on words and language.
- Worthless Word for the Day
- A word-a-day site and mailing list that has been active since the dawn of the Internet.
- Logophilia Weekly
- A now-defunct English words newsletter, but with over 100 essays archived for your edification and entertainment.
- The Vocabula Review
- A very professional monthly journal about the English language and word usage.
Amusements
- Banished Words List
- Each year, Lake Superior State University produces a "List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-Use, Over-Use or General Uselessness". End word abuse in our time!
- Pseudodictionary
- A 'dictionary of words that wouldn't make it into dictionaries' - now over 11,000 neologisms strong.
- Strange and Unusual Dictionaries
- Dictionaries of one-letter, all-consonant and all-vowel words. An amusing site, full of informative word-facts.
- Apostrophe Protection Society
- A site, only partly facetious, dedicated to the prevention of apostrophic catastrophe and misuse in the written English language.
- Anagram Genius Server
- A free service that lets you put in any word or phrase and have its anagrams sent to you by e-mail.
- English as She is Spoke
- A 19th century English phrasebook written by a non-English spaeking Portuguese writer using a Portuguese-French dictionary and a French-English phrasebook. These are the hilarious results.
- The Dialectizer
- Convert any web page into any number of English 'dialects': Redneck, Cockney, Elmer Fudd (!), etc.
Miscellaneous
- Word Play
- Judy Wolinsky's very interesting site has just about the largest collection of English language links I have ever seen.
- Richard Lederer's Verbivore
- Renowned author of many books on English words Richard Lederer's online presence; a useful and very interesting source.
- Slanguage
- Everything you always wanted to know about English language slangs (mostly US, unfortunately).
- Phobia List
- I'm not sure why we have so many words for fears of things, but here they all are.
- Heteronyms
- A compilation of heteronyms - such as lead (LEED) and lead (LED).
- Antagonyms
- Words which have two meanings which are antonyms; you put dust down when dusting for fingerprints, but pick it up when dusting the house.
- alt.usage.english
- The homepage for the ultimate newsgroup for those seeking knowledge of the English language. Just remember to spell-check your postings, and, for God's sake, don't ask anything involving "-gry".
Word Finding Tips
1) Dictionaries
The Internet is a great tool, but it is always a good idea to have one or more print dictionaries at hand for easy reference. The ones I keep on hand are the The Chambers Dictionary and Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, along with a CD version of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. There are many other good ones, but if the words you generally look for are obscure, you should avoid abridged or pocket paperback dictionaries. You should always, always look up your word in a dictionary first. Remember that many words are misspelled or have alternate spellings, so check around a little bit.
2) Search Engines
If you know the correct spelling of a word and want to know its meaning, you should enter it into a major search engine. I recommend Google, which indexes over 2 billion web pages and does a good job of finding relevant material. If your word exists, it will certainly have been used somewhere on the Web. This is a good tool for finding new words (less than 20 years old) that may not have found their way into dictionaries yet.
3) Onelook.com
While I love the Phrontistery, I am under no illusions as to its purpose on the Internet. While there are a number of very useful, fully searchable dictionary sites that you could try, I have found that only one is needed. OneLook is a searchable database containing all the words found in over 700 online dictionaries, including all the big names like dictionary.com, allwords.com, etc., as well as various specialized or technical dictionaries). You can put in a word or portion thereof (using wildcards) and find all the dictionaries that contain words meeting your criteria. It also has a reverse dictionary feature that allows you to find many words given only part of a definition or related concepts. This is an extraordinary service and is entirely free.
4) The Electronic Alveary
A very useful tool for crossword solvers, one that I have been using for several years, is The Electronic Alveary, which can be downloaded for free in a limited word-list evaluation version or purchased online. It is the ultimate tool for wordplay enthusiasts, making it easy to find words using wildcards for easy crossword puzzling, as well as finding anagrams and palindromes. I highly recommend that you get a copy and use it in conjunction with the tools mentioned above.
5) OED - The King of Dictionaries
I mention this resource last because it may be hard to find and use for the ordinary person: the Oxford English Dictionary. If you have access to a university library, you will be able to see the 20-volume monstrosity that is the world's largest dictionary, covering all English words ever used from 1066 to the present day. It is much too large and expensive for home and office use. However, if you are a student or have access to a university library, you may have access to the online edition, which is fully searchable and thus incredibly useful.