Research, Citation, & Class Guides: Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, & Thesauri: Dictionaries

English Language Dictionaries

Dictionaries subscribed to by the UW-Whitewater Libraries:

Oxford English Dictionary
Provides the meaning, history, and pronunciation of 600,000 words—past and present—from across the English-speaking world. The authority on the English language.
Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary
The largest, most comprehensive American dictionary. For students and educators.
Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE)
A multi-volume reference work that documents words, phrases, and pronunciations that vary by regions in the United States.
DARE is based on face-to-face interviews and other written materials such as diaries, letters, and newspapers.

Free open access dictionaries:

Your Dictionary
Definitions are accompanied by parts of speech, sentence examples, word origins, and an audible pronunciation feature. Sources used include the American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language (5th edition), Webster's New World College Dictionary (5th edition), and more.
Merriam-Webster - Online Dictionary
Open access dictionary, unspecified edition
Webster's 1913
"The connoisseur's reference to American English - a dictionary for writers and wordsmiths."
Websters Dictionary 1828
Contains the foundation of America's heritage and principal beliefs through the English Language. It is contemporary with the American Constitution. For this online version, all words, definitions, and examples are preserved, but word origin explanations have been removed.
The Free Dictionary by Farlex
A comprehensive English dictionary. Links to dictionaries in other languages are on the side: Spanish, German, French, Italian, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch, Norwegian, Greek, Arabic, Polish, Turkish, and Russian. Access also provided to thesauri and subject dictionaries such as medical, legal, and more.
Online Etymology Dictionary
"This is a map of the wheel-ruts of modern English. Etymologies are not definitions; they're explanations of what our words meant and how they sounded 600 or 2,000 years ago. The dates beside a word indicate the earliest year for which there is a surviving written record of that word (in English, unless otherwise indicated). "
Martindale's Language & Translation Center: English & Old English
Gateway site links to dozens of open access English and Old English dictionaries and language tools

Multilingual Dictionaries

Free open access multilingual dictionaries:

The Free Dictionary by Farlex
A comprehensive English dictionary. Links to dictionaries in other languages are on the side: Spanish, German, French, Italian, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch, Norwegian, Greek, Arabic, Polish, Turkish, and Russian. Access also provided to thesauri and subject dictionaries such as medical, legal, and more.
Lexicool
Directory of over 8,000 bilingual and multilingual translation dictionaries, translation and language resources.
OneLook Dictionaries
Searches over 1,060 different online dictionaries
Martindale's Language & Translation Center
Gateway site links to hundreds of open access dictionaries in dozens of languages

Visual Dictionaries

Open access dictionaries:

Merriam-Webster Visual Dictionary Online
Search of explore the 15 major themes to access more than 6,000 images and see words in physical context.
Signing Savvy: Your Sign Language Resource
Dictionary allows you to look up video snippets of thousands of ASL signs

Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, & Thesauri

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English Language Dictionaries

Multilingual Dictionaries

Visual Dictionaries