Searching for abbreviated words

The OED uses many abbreviations in its definitions, etymologies, and citations, the most common of which are listed here.

It is not always necessary to know how a word is abbreviated in order to search for it within the full text of the Dictionary. Listed below are some tips on searching for abbreviations used in work titles, language names, and subject labels.

Work titles

Works cited in the OED usually have their titles presented in abbreviated form. The standard abbreviations are listed here.

There are also other ways of finding out how a particular work title is abbreviated:

1. Do a proximity search or a Boolean search using two or more key words.

   For example, to find quotations from Dickens' Bleak House, try a proximity search for dickens near bleak in the quotations search area. The results list shows that the title is usually abbreviated to Bleak Ho., but appears in full in revised and new entries, where bibliographic standardization has taken place.

2. Use wildcards.

   For example, to find quotations from Dickens' Pickwick Papers, try a search for pickw* in the quotation work search area. The results list shows that the title is usually abbreviated to just Pickw.

Language names

In the OED's Second Edition, language names in etymologies were usually abbreviated.

For example, Sanskrit is referred to in full and also in the abbreviated forms Sk., Skr., and Skt. The variation reflects the long publication history of the original OED.

The collation of language names lists all forms in which language names appear in the OED's etymologies, whether abbreviated or in full.

However, the best way of finding references to a language name is to use the language names search area, which enables a single search for any one of the forms to retrieve all the different forms.

Subject labels

The OED usually abbreviates subject labels used to indicate the context in which a word is used. (The standard abbreviations are listed here.)

For example, anthropology is referred to in full and also in the abbreviated forms Anthrop. and Anthropol. The variation reflects the long publication history of the original OED.

The best way of finding references to a subject is to use the subjects search area, which enables a single search for any one of the forms to retrieve all the different forms. This search area is only available on the Advanced search page.