The Compact Edition of The Oxford English Dictionary, Complete Text Reproduced Micrographically (in slipcase with reading glass) (v. 1-20)
List Price:
Our Price: $340.41
You Save: $59.54 (15%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $129.61 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Editor: E. S. C. WeinerEditor: J. A. Simpson
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Format: Deluxe Edition
Published: 1991-12-05
ISBN: 0198612583
Number of pages: 2402
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Book Reviews of The Compact Edition of The Oxford English Dictionary, Complete Text Reproduced Micrographically (in slipcase with reading glass) (v. 1-20)
Book Review: Obnoxiously Excessive Dictionary [Compact Complete Micrographic etcetera]
Summary: 5 Stars
I have had my micrographic dictionary long enough to not swoon over the raw idea of the thing (like a lot of the knaves posting reviews that sound oh-so-familiar to the product description with gobs of exclamation points). I am a ferocious reader of dictionaries, a college student, and I do a lot of writing so in the interest of precision or simply bolstering my vocabulary with words like taciturnity, illinition, and temporicide--this dictionary's arsenal of obscure/obsolete treasures is not to be trifled with.
The lense for this version is actually not at all an annoyance, except if you go off the page a little. It covers the whole row, so you don't have to move it left and right like I thought, and it isn't a hand lense it sets on the page--which is really convenient in comparison to the last groggy edition. It's really easy to read. The problem I have with all this is that when the lense goes off the page, if you aren't careful you will rip the page. And you probably will rip a few. The glue they use for the binding also gets into the pages and glues some of them together at the edges, which is really annoying, but you can get them apart without incident if you exercise some caution.
In order be able to understand all of the abbreviations (and by abbreviations I don't mean n. or adj., in order to reduce size they have to abbreviate everything they can about the structure of the word and it's basic history, but the definitions and references themselves are in tact) you need to familiarize yourself with the book that comes with it, explaining how to decipher everything. It isn't long, and if you are interested in buying this anyways you are probably either a really pretentious feign flauting some fictitious intellect or a really intense need-to-know-everything freak/professor/student of the universe--in which case (the latter case) fifty or so pages on how to be friends with this big book is no big deal.
Now, if you are interested in getting this it would be wise to warn you that it is not a good idea to have this as your only dictionary. I supplement mine with online dictionaries and an older Random House dictionary. It does take forever just to find a single word in the OED, and for casual use it simply isn't practical. If you are just looking up the meaning of say caricature, hyperbolize, or expatiate--a smaller dictionary really is more useful.
Finally, one of the huge advantages to this dictionary, which is really why they made it, is mobility. I am on the go between several houses so I need to be able to take my books from my library to different places with as little hassle as possible. Ok, if I am lugging along two dictionaries along with god-knows-what you can imagine how much of a hassle I must be book wise, but this to the twenty-volume edition (plus supplementary texts) is an absolute joy. This, as well as just being the OED, is what gets this thing five stars.
More The Compact Edition of The Oxford English Dictionary, Complete Text Reproduced Micrographically (in slipcase with reading glass) (v. 1-20) reviews:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Summary of The Compact Edition of The Oxford English Dictionary, Complete Text Reproduced Micrographically (in slipcase with reading glass) (v. 1-20)
When the twenty-volume Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, appeared years ago, the public response was extraordinary. The AP and UPI announced publication over their newswires. Time and Newsweek ran full-page articles. The New Yorker published an extensive essay. Virtually every major paper in American and in Great Britain covered the event. And from every corner, the praise was lavish. Time called it "a scholarly Everest." Newsweek, "a celebration of language." And Herbert Mitgang, in The New York Times, called the new OED "the last word on words" and "the arbiter of the English language as it is read and spoken all over the world."Now comes the Compact Edition of OED II, which captures all the wealth of scholarship found in the original edition in just one volume. The Compact is not an abridgement, but a direct photoreduction of the entire 20-volume set, with nine pages of the original on every nine-by-twelve page of the Compact (a magnifying glass comes with it). As in the Second Edition, the Compact combines in one alphabetical sequence the sixteen volumes of the first OED and the four Supplements--plus an extra five thousand new words to bring this monumental dictionary completely up to date. And it is monumental, with definitions of 500,000 words, 290,000 main entries, 137,000 pronunciations, 249,300 etymologies, 577,000 cross-references, and over 2,412,000 illustrative quotations. But as large as it is, perhaps its most important feature is its historical focus. The OED records not only words and meanings currently in use but also those that have long been considered obsolete. Moreover, under each definition of a word is a chronologically arranged group of quotations that illustrate the word's usage down through the years, beginning with its earliest known appearance. The result is a dictionary that offers unique insight into the way our language has, over the centuries, grown, changed, and been put to use.
More than 100 years in the making, The Oxford English Dictionary is now universally acknowledged as the world's greatest dictionary--the supreme arbiter on the usage and meaning of English words, a fascinating guide to the history and evolution of the language, and one of the greatest works of scholarship ever produced. The Washington Post has written that "no one who reads or writes seriously can be without the OED." Now with the Compact, the world's greatest dictionary is within the reach of anyone who wants one.
Proper words in their proper places--and a good many improper ones, too! If the OED's many obsolete definitions tend to be the most enjoyable--shuff is dialect for "shy," dolt was once upon a time a verb as well, meaning "to befool"--everyday idiosyncrasies still abound. But, for instance, occupies nine columns of text, and who would wish a single line away? There's also the sublime pleasure of trawling through the sea of relevant quotations. The OED's initial team of "voluntary readers" was asked to cite as many phrases as possible for both archaic and ordinary terms. None seems to have found this remotely arduous, and we now reap the ubiquitous ("present or appearing everywhere; omnipresent") rewards. This huge venture is a labor of lore, love, and good humor. One caveat: If you skip over the Historical Introduction, you'll miss learning about the Unregistered Words Committee, and overlook the wry warning, "If there is any truth in the old Greek maxim that a large book is a great evil, English dictionaries have been steadily growing worse ever since their inception...."
English (American) Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in English (American) Books
Collins Essential English DictionaryHarper Collins; Published: 2003-05-06; Hardcover; Book
Collins Gem English Dictionary (1902-2002 Centenary Edition)by Elspeth Summers, Lorna S. Knight
Omnia Books Limited; Published: 2002; Hardcover; Book
Spanish Dictionary Plus Grammarby Collins
HarperCollins Publishers Canada, Limited; Published: 1997; Paperback; Book
Collins Pocket Reference English Dictionaryby Anon
William Collins Sons & Co.; Published: 1988-07-04; Paperback; Book
Collins Concise Dictionary Australian EditionHarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd; Published: 1988-08-31; Paperback; Book
Collins COBUILD Learner's Dictionary Workbook: Helping learners with real EnglishCollins CoBUILD; Published: 1996; Paperback; Book
Price in other shops:
BTS 1998 PACK (B) CPK 12+1 FREEHarperCollins Publishers; Published: 1997-06-06; Unknown Binding; Book
First Colour DictionaryCollins Educational; Published: 1978-09-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $70.79
Oxford English Dictionary: 20 vol. print set & CD ROMby J. Simpson, E. Weiner
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2009-11-16; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1,232.59
Price in other shops:
The Oxford Hindi-English DictionaryOxford University Press, USA; Published: 1997-05-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $21.99
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary (P.S.)by Simon Winchester
Harper Perennial; Published: 2005-07-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.18
Price in other shops:
The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolutionby Richard Dawkins
Mariner Books; Published: 2005-09-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.85
Price in other shops:
Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Edition, Version 4.0 (Windows & Mac)Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2009-06-04; CD-ROM; Book
Best price: $189.96
Price in other shops:
Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary - 2 volume setOxford University Press, USA; Published: 2009-11-02; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $410.46
Price in other shops:
Shakespeare's Words: A Glossary and Language Companionby David Crystal, Ben Crystal
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2002-12-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.00
Price in other shops:
Oxford American Writer's ThesaurusOxford University Press, USA; Published: 2008-11-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $22.95
Price in other shops:
The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionaryby Simon Winchester
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2004-10-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops:
Swivel Book Stand, Large, Solid Hardwood with a Dark Cherry FinishWoodform, Inc.; Woodform; Woodform, Inc.; Office Product; Office Product
Best price: $59.95
Shorter Oxford English Dictionary: Sixth Editionby William R. Trumble
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2007-09-20; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $85.93
Price in other shops:
New Oxford American DictionaryOxford University Press, USA; Published: 2010-09-02; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $32.36
Price in other shops: