Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary: With Additional Material from A Thesaurus of Old English (Hardcover)

~ Christian Kay (Editor), Jane Roberts (Editor), Michael Samuels (Editor), Irené Wotherspoon (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I am one of those who is intrigued by the way in which language evolves. To see the development of the English language set out in this way will bring endless pleasure to any lover of words. This work is, quite simply, fascinating." - Alexander McCall Smith, Author of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
"I've been waiting nearly all my life for a book like this -- as it turns out, literally! I am thrilled that the Historical Thesaurus is now a reality. The only problem is that I may dive in and never come out again. This is a word lover's dream." - Barbara Kingsolver, author of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
"Here is a work in which you can lose yourself and find your language. The Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary is so thorough and readable that it resembles other thesauri in name only. Finally the OED has a worthy counterpart." - Ammon Shea, Author of Reading the OED
"Every line generates fresh insights. It is at once awe-inspiring, humbling, motivating, moving. It actually made me gasp with amazement - and I mean out loud - several times, and I can't recall lexicology doing that to me before! It's amazing how these entries make you feel so much closer to the history of the language than was previously possible. The OED gave us individual trees, but never a sight of the whole forest or helpful pathways through it. The thesaurus does precisely that. It heralds a new era in the historical study of English." - David Crystal, author of Txtng: The Gr8 Db8
"The HTOED is truly a monumental work of scholarship and is certain to be the thesaurus by which all others are judged. It's a browser's joy, and writers of all stripes are sure to find it indispensable!" - Erin McKean, author of Totally Weird and Wonderful Words
"The Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary will be outstanding & indispensable & so much fun! Who would have thought that 'Smacker' (one who gives loud kisses) came in in 1611! At the same time as the first St James Bible." - Melvyn Bragg, author of The Adventure of English
"A treasure-trove for anyone intrigued by word histories. Those browsing through this fascinating storehouse will discover the (sometimes surprising) first dates of many well-known words and phrases. They will also find a stockpile of enticing words which have faded out of use. An addictive hoard for those who love words." - Jean Aitchison, Emeritus Rupert Murdoch Professor of Language and Communication Oxford University
"One-of-a-kind...this is a landmark achievement that all academics and large research libraries should own." --Library Journal
"The world's most comprehensive thesaurus." --Poets & Writers
"This is a treasure-trove...an extraordinary work." --Michael Quinion, World Wide Words
"No words of mine can express the magnificence of this monument to our huge and often beautiful language." --Elspeth Barker, Literary Review
"Startling and amazing...the HTOED is a godsend." --Mark Peters, Good
"Once again, Oxford UP has proved itself the leader in English lexicography, and it will be a long time before speakers of other languages have anything remotely similar to this arweorþlic/reverend/canonizable work of scholarship." --Stephen Dodson, Languagehat
"The ultimate volume for the word-fetishist." --New Yorker "Book Bench"
"An astounding intellectual achievement." --Dayton Daily News
"A dizzying power to have at your fingertips, and I bet that historians, sociologists, philosophers and literary critics will soon wonder how they got by for so long without it...indespensible." --New York Times Magazine
"One of the reasons why the Historical Thesaurus of the OED is so welcome is that it restores those principles to their rightful prominence, which will enable readers to trace the living language in all of its historical glory. Roget would have approved." --Weekly Standard
"Deserves a place on the academic shelf because it indeed leaves Roget, Webster, and even other Oxford thesauri far behind...an essential purchase." --College & Research Libraries News


A masterpiece. Chriss Moss, Time Out Magazine An unprecedented resource. Steven Poole, Saturday Guardian One-of-a-kind...this is a landmark achievement that all academics and large research libraries should own. Library Journal, Issue 12/15 Historical novelists, historians of ideas, literary scholars will find these volumes indespensable. David Wooton, TLS You could spend years browsing in this wonderful pasture. Philip Pullman, The Guardian No one should even consider writing a historical novel without it there on the desk. Philip Pullman, The Guardian No words of mine can express the magnificence of this monument to our huge and often beautiful language. Elspeth Barker, Literary Review As one expects from Oxford, it is superbly designed. Elspeth Barker, Literary Review This is what you call a proper reference tool, as well as an awesome tribute to the English language. Christopher Hart, Sunday Times [A] magnificent, 4,000 page treasure chest. Christopher Hart, Sunday Times The OED gave us individual trees, but never a sight of the whole forest or helpful pathways through it. The thesaurus does precisely that. David Crystal Surely one of the most extraordinary books of reference ever compiled. Sir Roy Strong A monumental feat of scholarship. Henry Hitchings, The Daily Telegraph The 'Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary' will be outstanding and indispensable and so much fun! Melvyn Bragg Finally the OED has a worthy counterpart. Ammon Shea An addictive hoard for those who love words. Jean Aitchison A word-lover's dream. Barbara Kingsolver I can hardly imagine any reference book more valuable for the historical novelist. Philip Pullman

Product Description

A 40-year project in the making, the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary is the first historical thesaurus to include almost the entire vocabulary of English, from Old English to the present day. Conceived and compiled by the Department of English Language of the University of Glasgow, the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary is a groundbreaking analysis of the historical inventory of English, allowing users to find words connected in meaning throughout the history of the language.



· The largest thesaurus resource in the world, covering more than 920,000 words and meanings, based on the Oxford English Dictionary


· The very first historical thesaurus to be compiled for any of the world's languages


· Synonyms listed with dates of first recorded use in English, in chronological order, with earliest synonyms first


· For obsolete words, the Thesaurus also includes last recorded use of word


· Uses a specially devised thematic system of classification


· Comprehensive index enables complete cross-referencing of nearly one million words and meanings


· Contains a comprehensive sense inventory of Old English


· Includes a free fold-out color chart which shows the top levels of the classification structure


· Made up of two volumes: The main text, comprising numbers sections for semantic categories, and the index, comprising a full A-Z look up of nearly one million lexical items

The Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary is a unique resource for word-lovers of all types-linguists and language specialists, historians, literary commentators, among others-as well as being a fascinating resource for everyone with an interest in the English language and its historical development. It is a perfect complement to the OED itself, allowing the words in the OED to be cross-referenced and viewed in wholly new ways.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 3952 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; Har/Chrt edition (November 2, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0199208999
• ISBN-13: 978-0199208999
• Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 9.1 x 5.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #26,064 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't be a "Dasiberd", Buy this Thesaurus, January 4, 2010

By	Wild Bill (San Diego, California) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

After reading a review that described this thesaurus as being written in a code of its own, virtually unintelligible, I felt compelled to provide some updated information. When I first received the thesaurus I found looking up words with the provided thematic system of classification somewhat daunting. The Historical Thesaurus of the OED uses a thematic system of classification and is organized into three major sections: I The external world; II The mental world; III The social world. From these broad catagories you can simply narrow down your search into more specific catagories. An example of this structure is 02 The mind ....02.02 Emotion....02.02.22 Love....02.02.22.04 Terms of endearment.... Overall, the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary contains almost 800,000 meanings, organized into more than 236,000 categories and subcategories. The concept is fantastic and if you are having trouble coming up with a synonym the thematic system is very effective albeit somewhat slow.

It wasn't until several days into using the thesaurus that I stumbled into the second volume. The entire volume (all 2,109 pages of it) are dedicated to words with references to sections in volume 1 for their synonyms. Volume 1 is the Thesaurus itself, organized according to the semantic categories outlined above, while Volume 2 is an alphabetical Index listing the majority of the synonyms in Volume 1. You can approach the content of the Thesaurus in different ways: either by looking up a single lexical item in the Index and be directed to the appropriate section in the main Thesaurus, or by browsing by semantic category directly, and seeing words in their context of both historical development and the overall organization of meaning.

To get a flavor of the workings of the thesaurus and a sample page go to Oxford University Press web site (Sorry but Amazon will not let me insert the link, just think "OED", then search the site for historical thesaurus, then click on the link Read more about "the largest thesaurus in the world" link).

I was very hesitant to shell out $$$ for book I didn't know if I would like, but retrospectively I don't regret the purchase and have had a lot of fun with it. I also purchased the CD ROM version 4.0 of the dictionary Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Edition, Version 4.0 (Windows & Mac) and have found it to be equally useful. I believe anyone who found this thesaurus to be an "Indecipherable Code" may not have explored Volume 2. Hope this review helps.

dasiberd Obs.

Also dasy-, daysy-, dasa-, dose-, dosa-, dossi-, doziberd(e, dosebeirde.

[The better form is prob. dasyberd = dazy-beard: see dazy a. inert, dull. Mätzner compares LG. dösbârt, and the same notion appears in Lowland Sc. dulbart, dulbert = dull-beard, dullard.]

A stupid fellow, dullard, simpleton.

26 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the Wait., October 6, 2009

By	Sam (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

First, Amazon has the wrong dimensions. Each book is about 11.5" by 9" with the entire cased set equaling 11.75" by 9" by 5.25". For those of us who own the Deluxe Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, the height is a perfect match with the depth being just barely .25" shorter. Essentially, they match. The slipcase is not the usual shiny blue used on the Compact OED or in the Deluxe Shorter. It is made of the same material as the cloth hardcover book binding. This set is heavy and, as usual, Amazon uses virtually no packing materials so be prepared for damage in shipping as the slipcase will dent.

The above description provided by Amazon pretty much describes the text, although the format is very unusual so be prepared to spend some time reading the "how to" section. Otherwise it will make little sense. This book set is essentially worth it only for a reader who truly enjoys the history of English.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A New Introduction to Your Mind, January 18, 2010

By	Fog Eater (Venice, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

I was about to send this back because I had the same reservations expressed in other reviews. The relatively small print! The bizarre organization! I had a very negative initial reaction. I put the two heavy and unwieldy volumes back in their box, wrapped them up and had them ready to send back to Amazon. Then I decided not to be too hasty and to give the volumes a second look. On the second look -- both volumes open side by side -- I fell in love.
The Oxford Historical Thesaurus is an inexhaustible intellectual gift to all English speakers. The lucidity of the categories gives you a new way to approach your language and a new way to approach the concepts in your own mind. Being able to watch words evolve from Old English to our modern time allows you to see the arrival and development of cherished concepts -- the slow blooming of a branch as bud after bud opens off the central stalk. In the end even the typeface is pretty easily readable, (despite its relatively small font size). These books are an enduring invitation to jubilation.
Users of English owe an immense debt of gratitude to the researchers and compilers at the University of Glasgow and the University of London and all the teams of people who helped them over the long years of their labor.What they have built strikes me as far bigger even than their labors - a truly inexhaustible gift to English speakers.