Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary: With Additional Material from A Thesaurus of Old English

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EDITORIAL REVIEW

A 40-year project in the making, the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary is the first historical thesaurus to include almost the entire vocabulary of English, from Old English to the present day. Conceived and compiled by the Department of English Language of the University of Glasgow, the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary is a groundbreaking analysis of the historical inventory of English, allowing users to find words connected in meaning throughout the history of the language.

The largest thesaurus resource in the world, covering more than 920,000 words and meanings, based on the Oxford English Dictionary
The very first historical thesaurus to be compiled for any of the world's languages
Synonyms listed with dates of first recorded use in English, in chronological order, with earliest synonyms first
For obsolete words, the Thesaurus also includes last recorded use of word
Uses a specially devised thematic system of classification
Comprehensive index enables complete cross-referencing of nearly one million words and meanings
Contains a comprehensive sense inventory of Old English
Includes a free fold-out color chart which shows the top levels of the classification structure
Made up of two volumes: The main text, comprising numbers sections for semantic categories, and the index, comprising a full A-Z look up of nearly one million lexical items

The Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary is a unique resource for word-lovers of all types-linguists and language specialists, historians, literary commentators, among others-as well as being a fascinating resource for everyone with an interest in the English language and its historical development. It is a perfect complement to the OED itself, allowing the words in the OED to be cross-referenced and viewed in wholly new ways.

PRODUCT DETAILS

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Pub. Date: 2nd November 2009
Catalog: Book
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Pages: 4448
Ean: 9780199208999
Isbn: 0199208999

ABOUT THIS BOOK

USER REVIEWS

Tremendous body of work!
~ Written on Nov 21, 2009. out of users found this review helpful.

This work highly recommends itself; it is both wonderfully conceived and masterfully executed, as one will perceive immediately upon opening its covers. The English speaking world owes much gratitude to the editors: Michael Samuels, Christian Kay, Jane Roberts, and Irené Wotherspoon and the folks at Oxford University Press.

Indecipherable Code
~ Written on Oct 29, 2009. 14 out of 18 users found this review helpful.

I'm returning it. The thesaurus is written in code of its own so complicated as to be virtually unintelligible. Other thesauri are readable; this one would take considerable trouble to master and it's certainly not something you can browse casually for pleasure, as you can the O.E.D. The information it contains may be awe-inspiring, but I don't want to have to go to cryptography school every time I want to look up a reference. I don't think product descriptions and reviews have addressed this problem sufficiently. The idea of a vast historical thesaurus sounds wonderful, but the numeric gobbledygook that comprises this one is a deal-breaker. If I'd seen it in a store or library first, I'd never have bought it. I suggest that others who are fascinated by the scope and depth of the project try to see the book in person and check out its hideous organizational system before they actually buy.

all thesauri are exciting, but this is the most exciting
~ Written on Oct 21, 2009. 5 out of 11 users found this review helpful.

As a thesaurus compiler myself, I find opening a treasury of words to be very exciting. The HTOED is the most exciting of all. It is an amazing labor of love and scholarship that is going to be so much fun to read and study.

Worth the Wait.
~ Written on Oct 6, 2009. 14 out of 17 users found this review helpful.

First, Amazon has the wrong dimensions. Each book is about 11.5" by 9" with the entire cased set equaling 11.75" by 9" by 5.25". For those of us who own the Deluxe Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, the height is a perfect match with the depth being just barely .25" shorter. Essentially, they match. The slipcase is not the usual shiny blue used on the Compact OED or in the Deluxe Shorter. It is made of the same material as the cloth hardcover book binding. This set is heavy and, as usual, Amazon uses virtually no packing materials so be prepared for damage in shipping as the slipcase will dent.

The above description provided by Amazon pretty much describes the text, although the format is very unusual so be prepared to spend some time reading the "how to" section. Otherwise it will make little sense. This book set is essentially worth it only for a reader who truly enjoys the history of English.

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