Result for "dictionary"...

English

Etymology

From Middle English dixionare, a learned borrowing from Medieval Latin dictiōnārium, from Latin dictiōnārius, from dictiō (“a speaking”), from dictus, perfect past participle of dīcō (“to speak”) + -ārium (“room, place”). By surface analysis, diction +‎ -ary.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdɪk.ʃə.nə.ɹi/, /ˈdɪk.ʃən.ɹi/, /ˈdɪkʃ.nə.ɹi/
• (US) enPR: dĭk'shə-nĕr-ē, IPA^(key): /ˈdɪk.ʃəˌnɛ.ɹi/
• Rhymes: -ɪkʃənɛəɹi
• Hyphenation: dic‧tion‧a‧ry, dic‧tion‧ary

Noun

dictionary (plural dictionaries)

2. A reference work listing words or names from one or more languages, usually ordered alphabetically, explaining each word's meanings or senses, oftentimes also containing information on its etymology, pronunciation, usage, semantic relations, translations, as well as other relevant information. [ca. 1480]

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:dictionary

   Hypernym: wordbook

   Coordinate term: thesaurus
3. (by extension) A reference work on a particular subject or activity in which the entries are arranged alphabetically; an alphabetical encyclopedia. [from 1570s]

   a law dictionary

   a dictionary of sports

4. (figurative) A person or thing regarded as a repository or compendium of information. [from 1730s]
5. (with of or possessive, frequently figurative, especially derogatory) The collection of words used or understood by a particular person; vocabulary. [from 1570s]
6. (preceded by the) A synchronic dictionary of a standardised language held to only contain words that are properly part of the language.
7. (computing) An associative array, a data structure where each value is referenced by a particular key, analogous to words and definitions in a dictionary (sense 1). [from 1950s]

   Hyponym: hash table

Alternative forms

• dictionnary (obsolete)
• dixnary (pronunciation spelling, obsolete)

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

• diction

Translations

See also

• encyclopedia
• lexicon
• thesaurus
• vocabulary
• wordlist

Verb

dictionary (third-person singular simple present dictionaries, present participle dictionarying, simple past and past participle dictionaried)

1. (transitive) To look up in a dictionary.
2. (transitive) To add to a dictionary.
3. (intransitive, rare) To compile a dictionary.

Derived terms

References

• “dictionary, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Further reading

• dictionary on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• dictionary (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “dictionary”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• indicatory