Contribute to the OED

Throughout its history, the Oxford English Dictionary has been enriched by evidence contributed by readers. One hundred and twenty years ago, James Murray, original editor of the OED, launched an ‘Appeal to the English-Speaking and English-Reading Public of Great Britain, America and the British Colonies’ for words for the Dictionary. This appeal was relaunched in 1999 by the current editor, John Simpson, with the aim of gathering evidence of new words and meanings, as well as information that can help our understanding of the language, such as earlier evidence for words recorded in the OED, or later evidence for words thought to have died out.

OED appeals and submissions

To suggest a new word, or contribute new evidence for a word already in the OED, please contact us as follows:

OED News Appeals List

In addition, each issue of OED News contains an appeal for readers to provide evidence of particular words and phrases for which entries are currently being drafted or revised. We also maintain an amalgamated list for our readers' convenience.

Quotations from Dr. Johnson's Dictionary

The editors of the Oxford English Dictionary's First Edition illustrated many words and meanings with quotations taken from Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language. The current editors are now attempting to check the quotations in their original sources, but many have not been identified. The list of unidentified quotations is updated regularly.