Oxford English Dictionary News

Now published: the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary

This new print publication provides a unique resource for scholars researching linguistic and literary history, the history of the language, social history, and more. Read more about the largest thesaurus in the world and see a sample page and description of the structure, as well as ordering details.

Latest additions to the OED

On 10 December, the revised range refund to reputeless was added tothe Dictionary: see John Simpson's commentary on the most interesting features of this batch. We have also added new words from across the alphabet; Michael Proffitt picks some out in his notes on the latest new words.

Special recordings

You can read/listen to an interview with Ammon Shea, author of Reading the OED, and Jesse Sheidlower, Editor at Large for the OED. Read also about the first editor, Sir James Murray, and one of the most famous contributors, Dr Minor, in the Oxford DNB; or listen to the lives of Murray and Minor in the Oxford DNB's free biography podcast.

Archive material

In our archive section, you can now read the prefaces to the original fascicles in which the OED was issued between 1884 and 1928. This material, long unavailable, will be of great interest to scholars and dictionary enthusiasts.

The OED newsletter

News of research and developments on the Oxford English Dictionary was formerly available in periodic printed newsletters. These brought together articles by editors and others on their work for the Dictionary, appeals for help with finding evidence of words currently being revised or drafted, and reports of the editors' recent findings about the language in all its entertaining variety.

We have replaced these newsletters with quarterly commentaries on the latest published batches and new words, but copies of the newsletters can still be read here on OED Online in our Newsletter archive.