THE DICTIONARY



THE DICTIONARY

Throughout our lives, the one book all of us will probably refer to more often than any other is the dictionary. This invaluable reference book has to be consulted again and again by everyone who speaks and writes English. It is one of our most vital books for communicating ideas effectively.

While the English language dates back more then 1,500 years, the dictionary we take for granted today has a considerable shorter history. The first English dictionary was not written until the early 1600’s. It was more the 200 years later, in 1828, when Webster published his two-volume American Dictionary of the English Language (Pollock and Loughlin 23).

Although some people believe that dictionaries dictate rules for using words correctly, such is not exactly the case. The dictionary describes how words are used, not necessarily how they should be used. Before writing the entry for a word, dictionary writers look at all the places the word has been used--in books, newspapers, and speeches--and from these contexts determine the various ways a word is used most often by most people (Maxwell 214).

A dictionary provides a reliable way of getting answers to many different kinds of questions about words. The major function of the dictionary, of course, is to promote accuracy in spelling, pronunciation, and word division. In addition to helping us spell, pronounce, and divide words properly, the dictionary offers much other valuable information. The derivation of a word is often given, telling from which language the word comes. If the object being looked up cannot easily be described, an illustration may be shown. When words are not considered appropriate for good usage, they are referred to as slang; when words are to be used only in conversation or informal writing, they are noted as colloquial, when words are no longer in common use, they are considered obsolete.

Works Cited

Maxwell, John C. Ginn Elements of English. Lexington: Ginn and Company, 1974.

Pollock, Thomas Clark and Richard L. Loughlin. The Macmillan English Series. New York: Macmillan, Inc., 1973.

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