The Concise Oxford English Dictionary

Anyone looking for a concise dictionary of English is currently faced with a difficult choice, since 2001 has seen the publication of new editions of three major works; the Concise Oxford Dictionary the Collins Concise Dictionary and the Encarta Concise Dictionary. All cover the same core material and at first sight seem much the same, giving definitions that place the most common sense first, guidance on such things as how formal or informal a word is and information on the origin of a word and when it first came into the language. However, a closer look at the text shows that they all have different strengths.

The Concise Oxford is the most grown up of the three. It saves space for other things by not giving pronunciation guidance for standard English vocabulary (such as "cheese") but only for words that might be difficult ("cheetah", "Chekhovian"). Instead it gives extra information on phrases, so that the reader does not have to search through "hard" for "hard cheese" is under "cheese". There is no major encyclopaedic element, although "Chekhovian" will give you the basic information on Chekhov, and there is an appendix giving information on countries of the world, as well as others on proof marks, weights and measures, different alphabets, abbreviations used in texting and an extensive guide to good English. This is the only one of the three to give good coverage of obsolete words, and is particularly strong on science and foreign words used in English. --Julia Cresswell

View other editions of The Concise Oxford English Dictionary.

THE BEST, THOUGH NOT COMPLETELY UNFLAWED - Rated
When the editors at Oxford began compiling the first edition of their English dictionary in the mid-19th century, their intention was to create the most comprehensive & academic such publication to date. By the time the eventual ten volumes had all been published in 1928 (originally four volumes), and indeed in the years since, this had arguably not been surpassed.

The dictionary, as the English language, has constantly evolved over time, keeping up to date with changes in word meaning, and with new words being constantly added all the time (for example, I don't imagine the first edition contained an entry for "Internet" or even "Television").

The title of this latest "concise" edition should not be misleading. Unless you need a full page for a definition, this edition should be sufficient for most needs. Its layout & broadness of definitions keep it head & shoulders above the rest, and have done since the introduction of the concise edition, beating off would-be contenders (such as the, admittedly excellent, Collins edition) for the crown of world's most popular.

The only criticism I could make of this is that this "concise" edition is perhaps not concise enough for the casual, lazy, user. However, if you want an up-to-date, definitive (who hasn't heard of the Oxford English Dictionary?), value for money and consice (enough) resource, this is the one to go for.

An invaluable tool for anyone interested in words. - Rated
I have always had a fascination with words and all their meanings and connotations. The Oxford Dictionary tells you a word's root, phonetical soundings (very useful if you do not know how to pronounce it!) and all their various meanings. This is a must for all homes.

Only for native English speakers - Rated
It could be a good dictionary for a native English speaker, but if you're trying to learn English as your second language, don't buy it!. Pronunciations are not given for ordinary, except for non English words and phrases. This also means you're unable to find the main stress syllable in a word. Looking up a word in this dictionary won't tell you if it's countable or uncountable. Example phrases or sentences are conspicious by its absence. I repeat, if English is not your mother tongue, don't buy it. Keep looking for another English-English dictionary.

Good layout with clear heirarchy of displayed information - Rated
Effective use of bold typeface for the keywords, bullet-points and arrow symbols, combined with a small but significant indentation of the decriptive text make this dictionary very easy to the eye.

The top of each page nearest the edge shows not only the first word on that page but also the last. This helps to quickly locate the desired word.

Although I don't usually find the International Phonetic Alphabet easy to use for finding the correct pronunciation of a word (because I can't remember the meaning of the symbols used) this book significantly helps by providing a listing of the symbols and their corresponding sounds at the bottom of each page. Vowels are shown on one pair of facing pages, consonants on the next, repeated throughout the whole dictionary.

Concise usage and origin definitions add to the book's usefulness and browsability.

In summary, an excellent dictionary that will become my default reference book.

Easy-to-use with clear explanations - Rated
The dictionary is very straightforward to use, as all dictionaries. However, it is guaranteed that you will find the word you're looking for in this one. Perfect for nearly anyone, even English students and enthusiasts!

Searching is very easy, the words are in clear bold writing and the explanations given are written in simple plain english.

Also contains all the acronyms you'll ever need.