dictionary [n.]

[pl. dictionaries] a book that lists the words of a language and gives their meaning, or their equivalent in a different language.
- ORIGIN from Latin dictionarium manuale or dictionarius liber ‘manual or book of words’.

thesaurus [n.]

[pl. thesauri or thesauruses] a book that lists words in groups of synonyms and related concepts.
- ORIGIN Greek thesauros ‘storehouse, treasure’.

Oxford Dictionaries

This page looks at Australian and benchmark dictionaries, biographical and children’s dictionaries, dictionary history, non-verbal, reverse and rhyming dictionaries, dictionary software, unusual dictionaries as well as as general information. A final section looks at thesauruses, particularly Roget’s Thesaurus.

The Second Page looks at dictionaries from a number of curriculum areas, plus other specialist topics.

As with all material available from the internet, you should check the source carefully. Expert sources should prove reliable, but be cautious with information from unknown sources.

Some dictionaries are on Specialist Pages, e.g. Indigenous Australia, Other Languages.

Dictionaries

Australian Dictionaries & Related Material

• Aussie Slang Dictionary
• Australian National Dictionary Centre
  ‘Contains resources related to Australian English, and English in general’. Includes etymology of sayings.
• Dictionary of Australian Slang
  Words and translations listed alphabetically.
• Macquarie Dictionary
  The Australian dictionary. A commercial site but definitions come at no cost to the person asking. Free 30 day Trial.
• Outrageous Aussie Sayings
  Similar to the Macquarie Book of Slang. Note the warning.
• Strine and Australian Slang
• True Blue
  A collection of Australian slang.

Benchmark Dictionaries

Includes the highest quality and most commonly used, unless noted in another group e.g., Macquarie Dictionary.

• Cambridge Dictionaries Online
  Access the Advanced Learner’s Dictionary online and make use of other resources.
• Merriam-Webster
  US based company with access to dictionary and thesaurus services. Other linked tools. Free use.
• Oxford Dictionaries
  Access Oxford based/created language resources, do crosswords, get a quote of the day and find meanings for the word of the day.
• Oxford English Dictionary
  Unless you join you are restricted to the word of the day.
• Webster’s Dictionary [Unabridged]
  Check on the right about downloading this as an ebook.

Biographical Dictionaries

• A Biographical Dictionary,
  Biographical details for a vast range of people.
• Biographical Dictionary
  Nearly 20 000 famous people from ancient times to the present.
• Encyclopaedia of Australian Science
  University of Melbourne. ‘Incorporating Bright Sparcs and Australian Science at Work’.

Children’s Dictionaries

• A Maths Dictionary for Kids by Jenny Eather
  Interactive mathematical dictionary in dictionary format.
• Children’s Dictionaries
  Links to dictionaries especially for children.
• Little Explorers English Picture Dictionary
  ‘1 910 illustrated dictionary entries !’ Each word used in a meaningful sentence. Most entries have links to a related web site.
• Word Central
  From Merriam-Webster. Choose from dictionary, thersaurus, rhyming words. Provides simple, full responses.
• Yahoo !® Kids Dictionary

Top of Page

General Dictionary Sites

• 1 000 Dictionaries
  Links to dictionaries, glossaries and encyclopaedias. Probably more than 1 000 now.
• Babylon
  ‘Simply type the term you are searching for or browse Babylon’s rich database of Free online dictionaries and glossaries. Over 1 300 glossaries and dictionaries in more than 50 languages’.
  Exceptional !
• Dictionaries
  A German compilation of dictionary links that covers almost everything, even things like the Devil’s Dictionary.
• Dictionaries on the Web
• Dictionary.com
• Dictionary Bank
  From the English Toolbox [English Library]. Generic and specialist dictionaries in different sections.
• Education Dictionaries and Definitions
  A collection of annotated links from the University of Notre Dame Library [Aust.].
• Encyberpedia
  Collection of links to dictionaries, thesauri, glossaries, encyclopaedias and languages. Covers many topics.
• English Dictionary for Word Games
  ‘Enter any word or letter jumble to find the following : Dictionary definition, Scrabble score or Anagram solutions’.
• English Pronouncing Dictionary
  ‘An English Pronouncing Dictionary with Instant Sound’. Mouse over it to hear it spoken as often as you want. Each word individually pre-recorded and no synthetic speech. American and British spellings provided. Pronunciation is Standard British English’.
• Freethesaurus
  30 000+ words with over 2 500 000 synonyms. From Mobysaurus. There are plug-ins for Firefox and IE.
• Index of Online Dictionaries
• Information Please
  Stated to be the largest Free reference site on the web. Beside a dictionary it has many other tools.
• LingoZ
  [Building the World’s Largest Dictionary]
  ‘An online community dedicated to the building of the world’s largest dictionary, and providing a community resource for language questions. LingoZ is a service by Babylon.com’.
  Worth visiting !
• List of Dictionariesbr>Links to translation dictionaries, thesauri, technical dictionaries and other resources.
• OneLook® Dictionaries
  Don’t search through multiple dictionaries, use this to do the work as it searches through many dictionaries and glossaries to find your answer.
• Memidex
  Free online dictionary/thesaurus with some unique features, including more extensive cross-referencing, complete inflections, simple interface, and frequent updates. Use the Find box for exact matches, or browse using the complete index.
• The Free Dictionary
  Use an alphabetical check or a subject heading to find words. Also a spelling centre [American spellings].
• Visual Dictionary Online
  ‘The Visual Dictionary is designed to help you find the right word at a glance. Filled with stunning illustrations labeled with accurate terminology in up to six languages, it is the ideal language-learning and vocabulary dictionary for use at school, at home or at work’.
• Wordnet
  A Princeton site. Enter a word to find other words that make antonyms, homonyms, synonyms, etc..
• Wordnik
  ‘Our goal is to show you as much information as possible, as fast as we can find it, for every word in English, and to give you a place where you can make your own opinions about words known’.
• Wordsmyth
  An educational dictionary-thesaurus that lets you look up definitions of given words and search using broad or spelled like methods.
• WordWeb
  ‘Includes a comprehensive English thesaurus and dictionary, and can be used to look up words from within most programs. Features include : Definitions and synonyms, Proper nouns, Related words, Pronunciations, 140 000 root words, 115 000 synonym sets’.
• YourDictionary
  An English dictionary, Thesaurus, Plus : foreign language dictionaries and a variety of specialist dictionary listings such as Construction to Grammar and History to Multimedia, language tools, puzzles and activities all in one brilliant site.

History of Dictionaries

• Dictionary [Wikipedia]
  There is a History section at the top in addition other information.
• Dictionaries & Meanings
  ‘Traces the history of English dictionaries from the 1500s to the present. You can examine how words change their meaning over time, and how scholars have argued over ideas of correct spellings’. Access sample pages from several different periods.
• History of the Oxford English Dictionary
• Questions about Dictionaries;
  Find the answers to these questions from the experts at Ask Oxford.
• The History of the Dictionary
  Article covering development of English dictionaries from about 1250.

Top of Page

Non-Verbal Dictionaries

Includes Sign Language, symbols, … .

• Auslan Signbank
  ‘an interactive dictionary of Auslan [Australian Sign Language]’. Sign search, fingerspelling and number signs.
  Excellent !
• ASL, A Basic Guide to
  ‘American Sign Language terms to help those who are trying to communicate with a person who signs, but does not hear … This dictionary has both animated and text definitions. The text definitions also have letter or number sign images to aid in visualizing the sign’.
• Body Language Dictionary
  ‘Definitions of Body Language terms from A-Z’.
• Non Verbal Dictionary
  Researched by scientists. Covers signs, gestures and body language. You can download a copy from this site.
• SYMBOLS.com
  ‘SYMBOLS contains more than 2 500 Western signs, arranged into 54 groups according to graphic characteristics. The signs range from ideograms carved in mammoth teeth by Cro-Magnon men, to hobo signs and subway graffiti’.

Reverse Dictionaries

• Dictionary.com Reverse Dictionary
  ‘The reverse dictionary lets you go from a concept/idea/definition to words and phrases used to describe that concept’.
• OneLook^® Reverse Dictionary
  ‘Lets you describe a concept and get back a lot of words and phrases related to it. Use a few words, a sentence, a question or even a single word’.

Rhyming Dictionaries

• Rhyming Dictionary
  Type a word to find its rhymes, synonyms, definitions and more. Also has links to other areas such as Shakespeare, quizzes, famous documents, quotations and Mother Goose.
• Rhyming Dictionary [Rhymer]
• WriteExpress Online Rhyming Dictionary
  [For Poetry and Songwriting]
  Enter a word then select from the options in the second section.

Software, Dictionary

• eThesaurus Free Edition
  ‘eThesaurus Free Edition is not just another WordNet “screen scraper”; it’s the most comprehensive synonym dictionary available for iOS, and all data is stored on your device, so you don’t need an Internet data connection to use it. It even works in Airplane Mode so you can write on the go’.
• Everest Dictionary
  A Free dictionary with more than 35 components including a range of languages.
• Free Thesaurus Software
  A well-annotated listing of Free dictionary and thesaurus software. Three pages of listings.
• The Cancer Dictionary
  ‘A handy, Free dictionary containing definitions of cancer related terms. Now you will know what doctors and medical personnel related to cancer are talking about’.
• The Sage
  ‘A professional software package that integrates a complete dictionary and a multifaceted thesaurus of the English language into a single and powerful language reference system’. Free.
• XTerm Medical Dictionary
  ‘A private project that endeavours to offer high quality, and Free of any charge, medical information to those individuals involved in learning and practising human medicine’.

Unusual Dictionaries

• Devil’s Dictionary
  ‘Since the material here represents the view of one individual and was written in the early years of the 20th century, there will no doubt be material here that you will find sexist, nationalist, racist, or just generally offensive. A most unusual dictionary indeed !’
  Be warned.
• Foolish Dictionary
  Sub-titled ‘An exhausting work of reference to un-certain English words, their origin, meaning, legitimate and illegitimate use, confused by a few pictures’. Quite funny - depending on your point of view.
• MB Free Psychic Dictionary
  ‘Our first attempt at gathering a vast and extensive collection of all terms related to Psychism’.
• Pseudodictionary
  ‘The place where words you’ve made up can become part of an actual online dictionary ! - slang, webspeak, colloquialisms, … . You name it. If you know a word that should be in the dictionary but isn’t, submit it’. A different approach !
• Strange & Unusual References
  Web and print versions of dictionaries of 1 letter words, all consonant words and all vowel words. links to other unusual dictionaries and book recommendations.
• Street Terms/Slang Words
  ‘Here is just a small snippet of this language with some descriptive terms where they are applicable’. US. A second listing of drug terms can be found at Terms - Australian Drug Information Network [ADIN].
• Visuwords
  ‘Online graphical dictionary’. Provides a graphical linkage system using definitions, interpretations and thesauri type links. Interesting.

Top of Page

Thesauruses

• Art & Architecture Thesaurus^® Online
  ‘Structured vocabularies that can be used to improve access to information about art, architecture, and material culture’.
• Australian Pictorial Thesaurus
  ‘A collection of topic terms for indexing Australian images’.
• Australian Thesaurus of Education Descriptors
  From ACER. ‘The definitive reference on Australian terminology in the area of education. It reflects terminology used to describe research and practice in Australian education’. A similar listing of definitions can be found at The national Education Directory of Australia .
• Biocomplexity Thesaurus
  An amalgamation of 5 previous thesauri in the Biological, Ecological and Environmental area. Check the Search Tips link to ensure full understanding of how the search mechanism works. Also check the Other Biological, Ecological, and Environmental Terminologies listed at the bottom left of this page.
• Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names^® Online
  ‘Includes names and associated information about places. Places in TGN include administrative political entities [e.g., cities, nations] and physical features [e.g., mountains, rivers]. Current and historical places are included’.
• Lexical Freenet
  Described as a connected thesaurus. Find words that are similar in a variety of ways. Multiple choices - options can be selected.
• Merriam-Webster Online Search
  Select Thesaurus from the available options.
• NASA Thesaurus
  Free download in two parts [PDF]. Select from the STI Tools menu where you will find the link to the Thesaurus.
• Plumb Design Visual Thesaurus
  Check the different way this does a thesaurus search. Still allows a fair level of control. Play with it to get the best use.

Roget’s Thesaurus

• Roget’s II The New Thesaurus
• Roget’s Thesaurus
  Words that have the same/similar meaning. This provides an alphabetical listing.
• Roget’s Thesaurus [1911]
  From The ARTFL Project.

• Schools Online Thesaurus
  ‘Provides a controlled vocabulary of terms used in Australian and New Zealand schools. It encompasses all subject areas as well as terms describing educational and administrative processes’.
• Thesaurus
• Thesaurus.com
  Thesaurus, dictionary, articles, language resources, word of the day, tools, translator.
• Thesaurus.net
  ‘Our Free thesaurus online resource offers a thesaurus dictionary online where your only task is to enter a word you find yourself unnecessarily overusing. This English thesaurus will quickly provide an array of possible synonyms that can be used to enhance writing’.
• Wordsmyth
  ‘The ONLY Integrated English Dictionary and Thesaurus in electronic form’. Links to other language tools.

Top of Page

© D & B Mann Webmasters. All rights reserved. Last updated - 7 May 2012.
Best viewed at a resolution of 1280 x 800 or greater. We use and recommend Mozilla Firefox as the preferred browser.