dictionary

American  

[dik-shuh-ner-ee] / ˈdɪk ʃəˌnɛr i /

noun

plural

dictionaries

1. a book or digital resource (such as Dictionary.com) containing a selection of words and information about their meanings, pronunciations, etymologies, inflected forms, derived forms, etc., in either the same or another language; lexicon; glossary.

   an unabridged dictionary of English;

   a Japanese–English dictionary.

2. a book or digital resource giving information on a particular subject or on a particular class of words, names, or facts, usually arranged alphabetically.

   a biographical dictionary;

   a dictionary of mathematics.

3. Computers.

   1. a list of codes, terms, keys, etc., and their meanings, used by a computer program or system.

   2. a selection of words used by a piece of software, such as a word-processing program, to check the spelling of text entered.

---

dictionary British  

/ ˈdɪkʃənərɪ, -ʃənrɪ /

noun

1. 1. a reference resource, in printed or electronic form, that consists of an alphabetical list of words with their meanings and parts of speech, and often a guide to accepted pronunciation and syllabification, irregular inflections of words, derived words of different parts of speech, and etymologies

   2. a similar reference work giving equivalent words in two or more languages. Such dictionaries often consist of two or more parts, in each of which the alphabetical list is given in a different language

      a German-English dictionary

   3. ( as modifier ) See also glossary lexicon thesaurus

      a dictionary definition

2. a reference publication listing words or terms of a particular subject or activity, giving information about their meanings and other attributes

   a dictionary of gardening

3. a collection of information or examples with the entries alphabetically arranged

   a dictionary of quotations

---

Etymology

Origin of dictionary

First recorded in 1570–80; from Medieval Latin dictiōnārium, dictiōnārius, from Late Latin dictiōn- stem of dictiō “word” + -ārium, -ārius adjective and noun suffix; diction ( def. ), -ary ( def. )

Example Sentences

“That’s what it means. I looked up the word ‘hydrophobia’ in the dictionary and it said very plainly that anything going mad refuses to drink water.

From Literature

In the dictionary of the boy’s imagination, this house would be listed under the entry of real home.

From Literature

Tattered spy novels, texts on information theory and binary multipliers, and an old Polish-English dictionary.

From Literature

He returns drenched in sweat and hands me a pocket-size Spanish-English dictionary.

From Literature

The whole room got very quiet and I was glad, now, that at the last minute I had looked up resourceful in the dictionary.

From Literature

Related Words

• glossary
• language
• vocabulary