Shorter Oxford English Dictionary

The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary was originally intended as an abridgement of the full Oxford English Dictionary. William Little was appointed as the first editor in 1902, and he worked on the project until his death in 1922. The dictionary was then completed by H. W. Fowler, Jessie Coulson, and C. T. Onions, and the First Edition was published in 1933 in two volumes.

The Second Edition, published in 1936, included around 3,000 revisions and additions. The Third Edition, released in 1944, featured an appendix of addenda and corrigenda, and this edition was reprinted several times with corrections and additions, the most significant of which occurred in 1973, with enlarged addenda and a major revision of all the etymologies.

The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary was then completely revised under the editorship of Lesley Brown from 1980 to 1993. This "New Shorter" was not simply an overhaul of the existing text, but rather a reabridgement of the OED and its Supplements. The Fifth Edition, published in 2002, reverted to the name Shorter Oxford English Dictionary to emphasize the link between this 2-volume dictionary and the original 20-volume OED.

The Sixth Edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, released more recently, provides a comprehensive update to this unique reference work. Based on the 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary, the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary contains approximately one-third of the coverage of the OED, yet is just one-tenth of the size, and includes all words in current English from 1700 to the present day, as well as the vocabulary of Shakespeare, the Bible, and other major works in English from before 1700.

The new edition, with a new introductory essay by language expert David Crystal on the History of English, includes 2,500 new words and senses, as well as thousands of antedatings of existing words, drawing on the ongoing research project for the Oxford English Dictionary and the wealth of information on language in use provided by the Oxford English Corpus. Additionally, the work includes many new quotations from recent authors, a refreshed design, and a complete review of spelling forms and defining vocabulary, making it the most authoritative reference work available for both modern and historical English.

For scholars and anyone with a serious interest in the English language, the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary is an unparalleled resource, providing a unique description of the historical development of the language, as well as excellent coverage of current English. The Sixth Edition showcases the best of the traditional strengths of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, while updating it in terms of scholarship, research, design, and treatment of the ever-evolving nature of the English language.

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