The ''New Oxford American Dictionary'' (''NOAD'') is a single-volume
dictionary
A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies ...
of
American English
American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lan ...
compiled by American editors at the
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
.
''NOAD'' is based upon the ''
New Oxford Dictionary of English
The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' (''ODE'') is a single-volume English dictionary published by Oxford University Press, first published in 1998 as ''The New Oxford Dictionary of English'' (''NODE''). The word "new" was dropped from the tit ...
'' (''NODE''), published in the United Kingdom in 1998, although with substantial editing, additional entries, and the inclusion of illustrations. It is based on a
corpus linguistics
Corpus linguistics is the study of language, study of a language as that language is expressed in its text corpus (plural ''corpora''), its body of "real world" text. Corpus linguistics proposes that a reliable analysis of a language is more feas ...
analysis of Oxford's 200 million word database of contemporary
American English
American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lan ...
.
''NOAD'' includes a
diacritical respelling scheme to convey pronunciations, as opposed to the
Gimson phonemic IPA system that is used in ''NODE''.
Editions
First edition
Published in September 2001, the first edition was edited by Elizabeth J. Jewell and Frank Abate.
Second edition
Published in May 2005, the second edition was edited by
Erin McKean
Erin McKean (born 1971) is an American lexicographer.
Early life and education
McKean was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. She graduated from the University of Chicago with a BA/MA in Linguistics. As an undergraduate, she worked in a junior ...
. The edition added nearly 3,000 new words, senses, and phrases. It was in a large format, with 2096 pages, and was 8½" by 11" in size. It included a CD-ROM with the full text of the dictionary for
Palm OS
Palm OS (also known as Garnet OS) was a mobile operating system initially developed by Palm, Inc., for personal digital assistants (PDAs) in 1996. Palm OS was designed for ease of use with a touchscreen-based graphical user interface. It is provi ...
devices.
Since 2005
Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...
's
Mac OS X
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. Within the market of ...
operating system has come bundled with a
dictionary
A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies ...
application and
widget which credits as its source "Oxford American Dictionaries", and contains the full text of ''NOAD2''. The
Amazon Kindle
Amazon Kindle is a series of e-readers designed and marketed by Amazon. Amazon Kindle devices enable users to browse, buy, download, and read e-books, newspapers, magazines and other digital media via wireless networking to the Kindle Store. ...
reading device also uses ''NOAD'' as its built-in dictionary, along with a choice for the ''
Oxford Dictionary of English
The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' (''ODE'') is a single-volume English dictionary published by Oxford University Press, first published in 1998 as ''The New Oxford Dictionary of English'' (''NODE''). The word "new" was dropped from the titl ...
''.
Oxford University Press published ''NOAD2'' in electronic form in 2006 at the OxfordAmericanDictionary.com, and in 2010, along with the ''Oxford Dictionary of English'', as part of
Oxford Dictionaries Online
Lexico was a dictionary website that provided a collection of English and Spanish dictionaries produced by Oxford University Press (OUP), the publishing house of the University of Oxford. While the dictionary content on Lexico came from OUP, th ...
.
Third edition
Published in August 2010, the third edition was edited by Angus Stevenson and Christine A. Lindberg. This edition includes over 2,000 new words, senses, and phrases, and over 1,000(1225) illustrations; hundreds of new and revised explanatory notes, new "Word Trends" feature charts usage for rapidly changing words and phrases.
*hardcover edition ()
*?th impression (2010-09-02)
*Android version: Published by MobiSystems, Inc. Premium version includes unlimited time use, offline mode, priority support, no ads.
**Version 5.1.020 (): Includes redesigned user interface, ability to share word definitions, 'Word of the Day' feature, new camera search function
**Version 7.1.184 (): Support split screen for Android 7, Shortcut Items for Android 7.1 (Camera, Voice Search, Dictionary)
**Version 7.1.191 (30-day trial, Android 4.1, 2017-01-03): Includes over 350,000 words, phrases and meanings, 75,000 audio pronunciations of both common and rare words in available in both British & American voice versions
*iOS version: Published by MobiSystems, Inc.
**Version 8.1 (): Includes redesigned user interface, ability to share word definitions, 'Word of the Day' feature, new camera search function
**Version 8.5.4 (): Includes invite and share for iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S+ and iPhone7 users.
**Version 8.5.6 (full version, iOS 8, 2017-02-23/24): Includes Voice Over, Voice Search for iOS 10.
*Windows version: Published by MobiSystems, Inc.
**Version 2.2 (7-day trial, 2015-05-27):
*Browser version: Published by MobiSystems, Inc.: Includes 350,000 words, 75,000 audio pronunciations in both British and American voices.
**Version 2.1.0.4 (full version, 2015-04-07):
*Oxford References online edition
**1st impression (2011-??-??)
**?th impression (2015-??-??)
Fictitious entry
The dictionary includes an entry for the word "esquivalience," which it defines as meaning "the willful avoidance of one's official responsibilities." This is a
fictitious entry
Fictitious or fake entries are deliberately incorrect entries in reference works such as dictionaries, encyclopedias (including Wikipedia), maps, and directories. There are more specific terms for particular kinds of fictitious entry, such as Moun ...
, intended to protect the copyright of the publication. The entry was invented by Christine Lindberg, one of the editors of the ''NOAD''.
With the publication of the second edition, a rumor circulated that the dictionary contained a fictitious entry in the letter 'e'. ''
New Yorker
New Yorker or ''variant'' primarily refers to:
* A resident of the State of New York
** Demographics of New York (state)
* A resident of New York City
** List of people from New York City
* ''The New Yorker'', a magazine founded in 1925
* ''The New ...
'' contributing editor Henry Alford combed the section, and discussed several unusual entries he found with a group of American lexicographers. Most found "esquivalience" to be the most likely candidate, and when Alford approached ''NOAD'' editor in chief
Erin McKean
Erin McKean (born 1971) is an American lexicographer.
Early life and education
McKean was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. She graduated from the University of Chicago with a BA/MA in Linguistics. As an undergraduate, she worked in a junior ...
she confirmed it was a fake entry, which had been present since the first edition, in order to protect the copyright of the
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both comput ...
edition. Of the word, she said "its inherent fakeitude is fairly obvious."
The fake entry apparently ensnared
dictionary.com
Dictionary.com is an online dictionary whose domain was first registered on May 14, 1995. The primary content on Dictionary.com is a proprietary dictionary based on ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'', with editors for the site providing new ...
, which included an entry for it (that has since been removed) which it attributed to ''
Webster's
''Webster's Dictionary'' is any of the English language dictionaries edited in the early 19th century by American lexicographer Noah Webster (1758–1843), as well as numerous related or unrelated dictionaries that have adopted the Webster's n ...
New Millennium Dictionary'', both of which are owned by the private company
Lexico
Lexico was a dictionary website that provided a collection of English and Spanish dictionaries produced by Oxford University Press (OUP), the publishing house of the University of Oxford. While the dictionary content on Lexico came from OUP, th ...
.
Possibly due to its licensing of Oxford dictionaries,
Google Dictionary
Google Dictionary is an online dictionary service of Google that can be accessed with the "''define''" operator and other similar phrases in Google Search. It is also available in Google Translate and as a Google Chrome Browser extension, extensi ...
included the word, listing three meanings and giving usage examples.
Other Oxford dictionaries
* ''
Oxford American Dictionary
The ''Oxford American Dictionary'' (''OAD'') is a single-volume dictionary of American English. It was the first dictionary published by the Oxford University Press to be prepared by American lexicographers and editors.
The work was based on t ...
'' (''OAD'')
* ''
Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...
'' (''OED'')
* ''
Shorter Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Shorter Oxford English Dictionary'' (''SOED'') is an English language dictionary published by the Oxford University Press. The SOED is a two-volume abridgement of the twenty-volume ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'').
Print editions ...
'' (''SOED'')
* ''
Oxford Dictionary of English
The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' (''ODE'') is a single-volume English dictionary published by Oxford University Press, first published in 1998 as ''The New Oxford Dictionary of English'' (''NODE''). The word "new" was dropped from the titl ...
'' (''ODE'')
* ''
Concise Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Concise Oxford English Dictionary'' (officially titled ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary'' until 2002, and widely abbreviated ''COD'' or ''COED'') is probably the best-known of the 'smaller' Oxford dictionaries. The latest edition contains ...
'' (''COED'')
* ''
Australian Oxford Dictionary
The ''Australian Oxford Dictionary'', sometimes abbreviated as ''AOD'', is a dictionary of Australian English published by Oxford University Press.Warden, Ian "Some Balltearers For The Scrabble Board" 27 October 1999 Canberra Times P7
The ''AOD'' ...
'' (''AOD'')
* ''
Canadian Oxford Dictionary
The ''Canadian Oxford Dictionary'' is a dictionary of Canadian English. First published by Oxford University Press Canada in 1998, it became a well-known reference for Canadian English.
The second edition, published in 2004, contains about 300 ...
'' (''CanOD'')
* ''
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
The ''Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary'' (''OALD'') was the first advanced learner's dictionary of English. It was first published in 1948. It is the largest English-language dictionary from Oxford University Press aimed at a non-native au ...
'' (''OALD'')
See also
*
Dord
The word ''dord'' is a dictionary error in lexicography. It was accidentally created, as a ghost word, by the staff of G. and C. Merriam Company (now part of Merriam-Webster) in the '' New International Dictionary'', second edition (1934). That ...
*
Trap street
In cartography, a trap street is a fictitious entry in the form of a misrepresented street on a map, often outside the area the map nominally covers, for the purpose of "trapping" potential plagiarists of the map who, if caught, would be unable ...
References
Bibliography
*''New Oxford American Dictionary'', First Edition, Elizabeth J. Jewell and Frank R. Abate (editors), 2192 pages, September 2001, Oxford University Press, .
*''New Oxford American Dictionary'', Second Edition,
Erin McKean
Erin McKean (born 1971) is an American lexicographer.
Early life and education
McKean was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. She graduated from the University of Chicago with a BA/MA in Linguistics. As an undergraduate, she worked in a junior ...
(editor), 2096 pages, May 2005, Oxford University Press, .
*''New Oxford American Dictionary'', Third Edition, Angus Stevenson and Christine A. Lindberg (editors), 2096 pages, August 2010, Oxford University Press, .
External links
*Oxford references pages
3rd edition*Oxford University Press pages
3rd edition''The New Oxford American Dictionary'', Second Editionwebsite
*MobiSystems pages
''New Oxford American Dictionary'' with Audio*Google Play pages
''New Oxford American Dictionary''*iTunes pages
iOS*WordWeb pages
{{Authority control
1998 non-fiction books
English dictionaries
Oxford dictionaries