A Dictionary
Many people may not think about a dictionary as being a reference book, but it can help you begin to understand not only the words you might not know, but also how they can be used in a paper, project, or article.
You can find dictionaries that are in book form, or you can use online dictionaries.
Some online dictionaries can be found at the following Web sites:
- Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com
- Your Dictionary, www.yourdictionary.com
- Dictionary Reference, dictionary.reference.com
Other dictionaries to use include:
- New American Webster Handy College Dictionary, 4th Edition
- The American Heritage College Dictionary, Fourth Edition
- Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition
- Webster's New College Dictionary, Third Edition
- Webster's New World Student's Dictionary
Many dictionaries are also available via CD-ROM, allowing you to install them directly onto your computer and never be without these valuable resources
What a Dictionary Can Tell You
A dictionary contains a wide array of information about words and the English language.However, you might also want to look to foreign language dictionaries when you have research projects for those classes or you need to ascertain the meanings of foreign words.
A basic dictionary will provide this information:
- meanings: what the accepted definition of a word is;
- pronunciations: how the word is supposed to be said aloud;
- derivations: the etymology of a word, where it was created;
- usage: noun, verb, adjective, conjunction, etc.;
- antonyms: words with the opposite meaning;
- synonyms: words with the same or similar meaning.
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