Research Guides: English Language & Literature: Trace Word Meanings Over Time

The Significance of The Oxford English Dictionary (OED)

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is the guide to the meaning, history, pronunciation, and variant spellings of words -- present and past -- from across the English-speaking world.

✅ Find meanings of words throughout history and witness changes in language over time
✅ Search through quotations from a wide range of sources and time periods (including classic literature, specialist periodicals, cookery books, and more)
✅ Use the Historical Thesaurus to track the changing language of the material world, the mind, and society, from the Anglo-Saxon period to modern day
✅ Look for definitions, spelling variations, pronunciation models, etymology, regional origins, and usage information

Access the OED

Oxford English Dictionary This link opens in a new window
Oxford English Dictionary (OED), published by the Oxford University Press, is a descriptive dictionary of the English language. Included is the complete text of the 2nd. ed. of the Oxford English dictionary with quarterly updates, including revisions not available in any other form.

How to Interpret OED Entries

Note the word's etymology. What is the word's language of origin? Latin, Saxon, Greek, French, etc.?

Note the word's definitions. How many different ways has the word been defined over time? Does the word appear to have had a complicated history? According to the date your literary text was published, how many definitions would have been available to the text's author? Note all definitions -- even conflicting ones -- that were in use at the time of your literary text's publication. How do some of these other definitions affect your sense of what the word or passage in your literary text could mean?

Note the word's historical usage. What is the earliest known usage of the word? How has the spelling changed over time? Which usages are familiar to you? Which usages by canonical authors or well-known literary texts might merit your attention? Keep in mind that some usages might have become popular after your literary text was published. Are there any other words or allusions you need to look up to close read the text?