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Oxford English Dictionary

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Dictionary Historical Thesaurus

The historical English dictionary

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An unsurpassed guide for researchers in any discipline to the meaning, history, and usage of over 500,000 words and phrases across the English-speaking world.

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Glossaries, abbreviations, pronunciation guides, frequency, symbols, and more

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Recently added

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*   [interrailing](/dictionary/interrailing_n)

*   [draught flap](/dictionary/draught-flap_n)

*   [Gallo-Italian](/dictionary/gallo-italian_adj)

*   [waka jumping](/dictionary/waka-jumping_n)

*   [non-player character](/dictionary/non-player-character_n)

*   [sglods](/dictionary/sglods_n)

*   [end-of-life](/dictionary/end-of-life_adj)

*   [cutting off](/dictionary/cutting-off_n)

*   [chef's kiss](/dictionary/chefs-kiss_n)

*   [three-dimensional printing](/dictionary/three-dimensional-printing_n)

*   [prags](/dictionary/prags_n)

*   [live chat](/dictionary/live-chat_n)

*   [de-ageing](/dictionary/de-ageing_n)

*   [speak-sing](/dictionary/speak-sing_v)

*   [corepressor](/dictionary/corepressor_n)

*   [belna](/dictionary/belna_n)

Word of the day

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### [mizzle](/dictionary/mizzle_v3)

verb

To go away suddenly; to vanish, disappear.

Recently updated

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*   [lick log](/dictionary/lick-log_n)

*   [elfhood](/dictionary/elfhood_n)

*   [this](/dictionary/this_adv)

*   [argument](/dictionary/argument_n)

*   [triceps](/dictionary/triceps_adj)

*   [Windies](/dictionary/windies_n)

*   [specify](/dictionary/specify_v)

*   [chatter](/dictionary/chatter_n2)

*   [Gumban](/dictionary/gumban_adj)

*   [yard](/dictionary/yard_v1)

*   [wounden](/dictionary/wounden_adj)

*   [thema](/dictionary/thema_n)

*   [elfship](/dictionary/elfship_n)

*   [Windsor](/dictionary/windsor_n)

*   [barcoded](/dictionary/barcoded_adj)

*   [themed](/dictionary/themed_adj)

[

Word stories

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Read our collection of word stories detailing the etymology and semantic development of a wide range of words, including ‘dungarees’, ‘codswallop’, and ‘witch’.

](/discover/word-stories)[

Word lists

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Access our word lists and commentaries on an array of fascinating topics, from film-based coinages to Tex-Mex terms.

](/discover/word-lists)[

World Englishes

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Explore our World Englishes hub and access our resources on the varieties of English spoken throughout the world by people of diverse cultural backgrounds.

](/discover/world-englishes)[

History of English

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Here you can find a series of commentaries on the History of English, charting the history of the English language from Old English to the present day.

](/discover/history-of-english)

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I can search for simple definitions, perform advanced searches for entries, meanings, and quotations, or find information about the OED itself.

Example queries I can run are "What words in English are borrowed from French?", "What words were coined by Charles Dickens?" or "How are words added to the dictionary?".

This service is currently in beta, and we hope to make this a permanent feature later in 2025. Please note that while searches in the Historical Thesaurus aren’t covered yet, I’m ready to help with other searches. Give me a try!

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