Examining the OED

Alphabetised indents in a dictionary

An entirely revised and redesigned Examining the OED (EOED) goes live this month. A long-term project by Professor Charlotte Brewer of Hertford College, the website investigates the history and editing of the Oxford English Dictionary, the enormous word-book which is now being fully updated for the first time in its 145-year history. The OED (published by Oxford University Press, and independent of the university itself) is the only dictionary in the world to document the history and development of words in English from 1150 or so right up to the present day.

 

Visitors to the EOED website can find new analyses of the OED’s treatment of different authors and periods in the language (along with accompanying charts), discover the dictionary’s various stages and editions over the course of its history, read about the theory and practice fuelling its vast collections of illustrative quotations, and browse documents and photos from archives in Oxford and elsewhere.

 

EOED is intended to be helpful and informative for undergraduates studying English as well as graduates and researchers – and also of interest to the general public.