Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #419090 in Books
• Published on: 2003-07-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 1888 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Collins English Dictionary has evolved into a glorious great slab of a reference book since its relatively modest first appearance in 1979. The 2003 version, rooted in the Bank of English, a 524-million word database launched in 1991, is the sixth edition.

Strong on clear definitions, derivations, cross-referencing, acronyms, technical and scientific terms and geographical place names, Collins English Dictionary also includes occasional boxed "language notes". Thus, for example, after "mitigate" we are usefully reminded that "Mitigate is sometimes used where militate is meant: 'His behaviour militates (not mitigates) against his chances of promotion.'" Interestingly, users of English are evidently becoming more relaxed about their language. Seventy words previously deemed taboo, including "arse," "crap" and "wank" are now described merely as slang. Perhaps rows of asterisks will soon be a thing of the past. Language changes continually and so do attitudes to it. There is a distinct sense of celebration in the latest Collins English Dictionary because English is one of the richest and most diverse of the world's languages and it is rapidly becoming a global lingua franca.

Jeremy Butterfield and his colleagues have made a splendid job of recording exactly where English is now. We may need to know what a "sex text" or a "dead-cat bounce" is today but, perhaps, in the quite near future such terms will fall out of use. That's why dictionaries need to be continuously updated, leaving earlier editions as reference works for language historians to study. It's also what makes dictionaries in general and Collins English Dictionary in particular so fascinating and why word lovers need the latest version on their shelves. --Susan Elkin

Synopsis
This edition of the "Collins English Dictionary" has been fully revised to include thousands of the latest buzz and hi-tech words, as well as new meanings from the Bank of English. It includes a much wider and richer range of words than ever before, with regional and dialect words con tributed by hundreds of people from all over the UK, and generous coverage of World English, particularly from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa and the USA. Its coverage of scientific and technical entries has also been fully revised and updated by a team of academic experts. Language notes give advice on using the right word in the right place, and thousands of word histories trace the roots of modern English.

Customer Reviews

The best single-volume English dictionary
The eighth edition of the Collins English Dictionary is a hefty single-volume hardback. For the first time contains colour inside (blue for the words being defined, black for the definitions). The typefaces used (Collins Fedra Sans and Fedra Serif) are the most attractive of any dictionary.

In terms of the substance, there is little difference between the Collins and The Oxford Dictionary of English, but the Collins dictionary is more aesthetically pleasing. Both The Penguin English Dictionary and The Chambers Dictionary are good dictionaries, but it is worth bearing in mind that the Penguin contains fewer words than the others mentioned here (though it is less expensive) and the definitions in the Chambers Dictionary are less clearly laid out than in the other dictionaries.

Comprehensive and Profound

This is the best English dictionary one can buy for complex and obscure words and always has those rare and obsolete words one finds in Victorian novels that seem, so often, to escape the Oxford. I do the : 'Guardian;' 'Times;' and 'Telegraph;' Crosswords and will nearly always find words in this Dictionary that unfortunately, again, escape the Oxford. New editions assimilate much of modern language so that one has a contemporaneous and historical literary blend that will satisfy most requirements from the most basic, common reader to the specialist, esoteric academic.

My new best pal!
This is The Daddy! I compared this with Oxford, Chambers and Penguin and for me it came out a clear winner. Very clear and includes all those obscure words that the others overlook. It's great value at this price and eats crosswords for breakfast. Just don't drop it on your foot!