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such as contract law (a sub-field dictionary). Specialized
dictionaries may be maximizing dictionaries, i.e. they attempt to
achieve comprehensive coverage of the terms in the subject field
concerned, or they may be minimizing dictionaries, i.e. they
attempt to cover only a limited number of the specialized
vocabulary concerned. Generally, multi-field dictionaries tend to
be minimizing, whereas single-field and sub-field dictionaries tend
to be maximizing.
Phraseological dictionaries describe idioms, colloquial
phrases and proverbs. Some of them have examples from
literature.
Etymological dictionaries trace present-day words to the
oldest forms of these words and forms of these words in other
languages.
Pronouncing dictionaries record only pronunciation.
Dictionaries of neologisms contain newly appearing words.
English is famous for its unpredictable spellings and a
dictionary is obviously going to be very useful here. A dictionary
will tell you whether this spelling is British or American. You can
even find out whether a verb has an irregular past tense or whether
an adjective has an irregular comparative form.
The phonetic alphabet is used in dictionaries to tell you
about the pronunciation of a word, and a special indication will
help you get the stress in the right place.
List of major English dictionaries:
The Penguin English Dictionary
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Webster's Third New International Dictionary (descriptive)
Random House Dictionary of the English Language
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
Webster's New World Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary (descriptive)
Concise Oxford Dictionary
New Oxford Dictionary of English

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