Reference Shelf - Dictionaries & Thesauri

Reference Shelf

See also UT Libraries Databases: Dictionaries & Encyclopedias for a selection of online reference books on a variety of subjects.

General Dictionaries

Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged.: A dictionary of the English language containing 450,000 vocabulary entries. Available to UT (Knoxville campus) faculty, staff, and students.
Merriam-Webster Online: Based on the print version of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 11th edition. "Includes the abbreviations, foreign words and phrases, biographical names, and geographical names sections of that book." Also offers a thesaurus, medical dictionary, and Spanish/English word translator.
Oxford English Dictionary: OED is the pre-eminent historical dictionary of the English language. Other Oxford dictionaries and thesauri available also. Available to UT (Knoxville campus) faculty, staff, and students.
Oxford Reference Online: Access to over 100 dictionaries and handbooks published by Oxford University Press including such titles as New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford American Dictionary of Current English, and Oxford Dictionary of English. Search all reference works simultaneously or browse individual titles. Available to UT (Knoxville campus) faculty, staff, and students.
Cambridge Dictionaries Online: Search Cambridge Dictionary of American English, Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms, and Cambridge International Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. Includes pronunciation, parts of speech, and definition.
Dictionary.com: Pronunciation (including audio), definition, usage, idioms, origin, etc. Words are searched across the dictionaries hosted by this site including The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed., 2004) and Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary. Offers a thesaurus as well as a translation feature.
iTools: Dictionary aggregator. Includes dictionaries, thesauri, language translators, anagrams, and more.
OneLook Dictionary Search: Aggregator of over 900 dictionaries on the web. Option to choose from lists grouped selectively by type, subject, popularity. Includes a reverse dictionary for finding words based on a description of a concept.
Wordsmyth: The Educational Dictionary-Thesaurus: Includes syllabication, pronunciation, definitions, synonyms, inflections, and parts of speech. A primary strength is the integrated thesaurus with "synonyms keyed to each of the definitions in a dictionary entry." Registration and login required for access to all of its features.
yourDictionary.com: Dictionary aggregator that includes Webster's New World Dictionary as well as Roget's Thesaurus. Audio pronunciations and usage examples. "Look up general or specialized words in literally thousands of English and foreign-language dictionaries."
Dictionary directories:: Librarians' Internet Index; Internet Public Library; Yahoo

Specialized Dictionaries

Oxford Language Dictionaries Online: Bilingual dictionaries in French, German, Spanish, Chinese, Russian and Italian. Available to UT (Knoxville campus) faculty, staff, and students.
Acronym Finder: Extensive dictionary of acronyms, abbreviations, and initialisms.
American Sign Language Browser: Browse for words and then view a demonstration of the sign.
Law.com Dictionary: Browse or search legal terms. Reverse search function also available.
Lexical FreeNet: Search for relationships between words, concepts, and people. "It is a combination thesaurus, rhyming dictionary, pun generator, and concept navigator."
RhymeZone: Find rhymes, synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and related words.
Word Spy: A collection of over 1000 neologisms. Browse or search using boolean logic. "Devoted to recently coined words, existing words that have enjoyed a recent renaissance, and older words that are now being used in new ways."

Thesauri & Synonyms

Merriam-Webster's Online Thesaurus: Includes short definition, synomyms, antonyms, related words and contrasted words.
Thesaurus.com: Employs Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, 3rd edition (2008).
Roget's Thesaurus: 1911 edition. Search the headwords or full text.
Roget’s International Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases: 1922 edition. Browse alphabetically and by category, or search the full text.

Word Trivia

Internet Anagram Server: Find new words and phrases from rearranged letters.
Word Oddities and Trivia.: Find those much sought after words ending in -gry and other language tidbits. Old and no longer updated but still very useful.

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Page Maintained by:

Lana S. Dixon
Health Sciences
Reference Librarian
ldixon@utk.edu
974-4700

updated 7/8/09

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