MAJOR CHANGE IN CHOICE OF REVISED WORDS PUBLISHED ONLINE!
The sequence of revised entries published online since March 2000 has proceeded from the letter M, to quit shilling (representing between a fifth and a quarter of the dictionary). According to that model, the present publication batch would include words from quits to somewhere early in the letter R.
But after several years of steady alphabetical publication, editors of the OED have decided a change was necessary. The latest update departs radically from the former model, in that its 2,116 entries consist for the most part of key English words from across the alphabet, along with the other words which make up the alphabetical cluster surrounding them. From now on, the editors will alternate between these two models each quarter, with the next publication range (in June 2008) continuing from quits, and the subsequent one (September 2008) presenting a further range of major words and their associated alphabetical clusters.
The main purpose of this change is to revise, much earlier than would otherwise have been the case, important English words whose meanings or application have developed most over the past century. Some of these key words are, as one might expect, among those often looked up by readers of the OED.
For more information about the new update program, click here.
NEW AND REVISED WORDS AND SENSES
For your convenience, click here to see a list of the full range of newly revised words. Some words included in this update are: computer, gay, free, heaven, and hell, and the controversial expletive the f-word.
You know what a boycott is, but what about a girlcott? For a list of new words and their meanings, click here.
LATEST NEWS FROM OXFORD ONLINE
This spring we welcome the online versions of two more of our celebrated Oxford reference works, The Encyclopedia of the Modern World and Encyclopedia of Semiotics, which are now available for purchase via the Oxford Digital Reference Shelf.
Also, I'm delighted to announce the launch of Oxford Art Online and Oxford Music Online, as well as the redesigned Grove Art Online and Grove Music Online. Oxford Art Online and Oxford Music Online are the new gateways for online art and music information, respectively, and will be the home for forthcoming art reference products and subscriptions.
Free trials are available to our new online resources -- simply send an e-mail to oxfordonline@oup.com and let us know which product(s) you'd like to try!
Oxford offers a variety of materials to help your patrons get the most from the Oxford English Dictionary Online: help guides, a guided tour, and a search box which will enable your users to search the Dictionary directly from your website.
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