Customer Reviews

DK Illustrated Oxford Dictionary

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a dictionary junkie, I've used a lot of dictionaries. By far, the Oxford Illlustrated is most enjoyable to use. I could even use the word fun.

Unfortunately, many professional book reviewers state that this dictionary is used primarily for a home with children or a classroom. While it is a great book for that demographic, it's a also a sheer pleasure for any adult.

Gone are the days of simplistic pencil drawings and flat lifeless paper. This dictionary has thousands of interesting illustrations and glossy paper. It's about as multi-media a book can get without being a computer program. Perhaps this does sound like it's only for kids. But it's not. It's truly a dictionary that almost anyone can open up and actually just enjoy looking at and reading - on almost any given page. This isn't something one can say about any dictionary before DK and Oxford got together to publish this book.

Obviously, if you're looking primarily for word history and extensive multipe definitions this dictionary isn't for you.

The original version of the Illustrated Oxford English Dictionary was published in 1998 at 1008 pages. This new edition, published in 2003, is described on the DK web site as "completely updated." I haven't been able to do direct comparisons, but given the fact that this edition is also 1008 pages the update couldn't have been too substantial. However, given that there were errors in the earlier edition and certain ommitted current words, it's best to go with this most recent edition.

This dictionary is top of the line. The pictures are bright and brilliant with color. I absolutely love this dictionary. The colorful pictures,informative detail, and charts will draw kids in with curiosity. This is a keeper for any growing family with children.

I bought it online in a "Used" category for $15.00 but I received it Brand New/Mint condition. It retails for $50 and is definitely worth every penny.

I am sure you are familiar with the larger "unabridged" dictionaries. This book is about that size, however, it only has about 75,000 head words (plus their other forms)[180,000+ if you just count all the entries]. This is pretty good, but you might wonder why you would want to have such a large book with the number of words in a much smaller pocket dictionary. The answer is the 5,000 illustrations that provide a great deal of information. These illustrations are not decorative (although they do add color and beauty to the text), they are well chosen and provide many of the terms related to that object. This is a very enlightening book and acts almost as a one-volume encyclopedia, but these are definitions NOT articles.

As the cover illustration of the Capitol in Washington D.C. shows, the picture shows all the architectural features of the building with their terms. What is the difference between a cornice and an entablature? The picture shows you immediately. Most useful!

Anyone who loves words and terms and wants to be sure to use them correctly can get quite a bit from this book.

Recommended!

My star-rating is not a comment on the book as a dictionary; it's probably pretty competent in that respect. But this is NOT a visual dictionary. It is a mix between a visual and a normal dictionary- more like a normal dictionary with color pictures.

i ordered this in time for my friend's b-day and he has always wanted a visual dictionary. But guess what? this is a plain old dictionary with occasional pictures! oh dear oh dear. while trying to decided between the choices on amazon, i clicked between this one, the Macmillan, the DK Visual Dictionary and in my own little way decided this one sounded best. I thought it would be a Visual dictionary because it was cross-listed with all the above ones- well, it is not. So be careful while buying please, and if any amazon folks read this, please be more clear in how you advertise the book.

This is a gorgeous product that invites browsing. For a few of my students for whom English is not their first language, its rich collection of illustrations is very helpful (see "creel" for example). However, I can't recommend it to parents as a sole purchase because there are no etymologies (word origins -- did it come from Latin, Urdu, Gaelic, or what?). What a sad, small oversight in an otherwise delightful lexicon!

Yes, on-line dictionaries are terriffic. I use them all the time. But you can't teach a kid to spell and alphabetize without a paper dictionary. Most kids' dictionaries have such limited word counts as to be almost useless for young kids who are bright and for older kids whose spelling hasn't caught up to their vocabulary. Lots of words will be over the heads of most school-age kids, but that's good-- plenty of room to grow. This dictionary is ideal.

My son just love this dictionary. He couldn't stop reading it. It's a very good addition for the library.

I purchased this dictionary as a gift for someone who admired my son's copy. The recipient loved it! The illustrations are amazing and a nice addition to the basic "definitions".

This is one of the best dictionary I have ever seen. The Oxford dictionary is excellent already and the illustrations in it make this dictionary educational.

Note this is certianly not an encyclopedia as some other reviewer think it is. It's a great dictionary to have.

I found this dictionary content complete and very inbformative. The descrptive definitons are very helpful in understanding a word. The pictures are also helpful.