Washington and Lee University
Oxford English Dictionary (OED)
The OED is the accepted authority on the history of words in the English language. It is the most important guide to the meaning and history of over a half-million words, both past and presen...
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Acronym Finder
Over 550,000 acronyms and abbreviations.
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American Heritage Book Of English Usage
A "practical and authoritative guide to contemporary English." Covers grammar, style, diction, word formation, gender, social groups and scientific forms.
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American Language
This is H.L. Mencken's "inquiry into the development of English in the United States."
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Behind The Name
the etymology and history of first names
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Bilingual Dictionaries
This is a collection of bilingual dictionaries published by Oxford University Press, searcheable as a group or individually.
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Elements Of Style
Strunk's 1918 edition.
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English Dictionaries And Thesauruses
This is a collection of English-language dictionaries published by Oxford University Press, searchable as a group or individually.
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English Language Reference
A collection of English-language guides (style, grammar, proverbs, etc.) published by Oxford University Press, searchable as a group or individually.
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Ethnologue
The 14th edition of this massive compilation of information on over 6,500 languages around the world.
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Glossary Of English Grammar
Geoffrey Leech's 2006 collection of definitions of grammatical terms, with examples of use.
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Merriam-Webster Online
Dictionary and thesaurus.
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Middle English Compendium
The Compendium weaves together three separate resources: the Middle English Dictionary; the HyperBibliography; and the Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse.
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Modern Language Association Language Map
Uses data from the 2000 United States census to display the locations and numbers of speakers of thirty languages and seven groups of less commonly spoken languages in U.S. counties and Zip Codes. The census data were based on responses to the question, "Does this person speak a language other than English at home?"
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Oxford Dictionary Of Phrase And Fable
Wide-ranging dictionary which explores nearly 8,000 names and sayings found in classic and contemporary literature and other writings.
Also available in our printed collection.
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Oxford Dictionary Of Rhymes
First edition (2006) "contains rhymes for 45,000 words, including proper names, place names, and foreign terms used in English."
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Oxford English Dictionary (OED)
The OED is the accepted authority on the history of words in the English language. It is the most important guide to the meaning and history of over a half-million words, both past and present, tracing the meanings of these words through the use of over 2.5 million quotations,
drawn from a wide range of sources. The database contains the Second Edition and additions, including quarterly updates of
at least 1,000 new and revised entries.
The library also has the first and second editions in printed form.
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Oxford Guide To Literature In English Translation
Published in 2000, this guide contains about 170 substantial entries on individual works (such as Virgil's Aeneid or Thousand and One Nights), writers, genres, and national literatures, complemented by more substanital essays on such issues as the problems of translating poetry. A printed volume is available in the library's collection.
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Pocket Fowler's Modern English Usage
Second edition (2008) contains 4,000 entries offering respected advice on current use of the English language. The library also has related earlier publications in printed form.
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Pocket Oxford Latin Dictionary
"Over 100,000 words, phrases, and translations." Revised edition, 2005.
This is the Latin-to-English form of the dictionary. For English-to-Latin, see this link.
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REALIA Project
Rich Electronic Archive for Language Instruction Anywhere
The goal of the REALIA Project is to develop and implement a searchable digitized media database which will provide instructors of modern languages with teaching resources accessible via the Web. REALIA will publish royalty-free, faculty-reviewed media for scholars and students, and be open to all disciplines that wish to contribute or use cultural materials appropriate for instruction at the college and secondary level. The REALIA Project seeks to increase through collaboration the quantity of high-quality teaching and learning materials by providing a respected venue for media projects that otherwise might not be shared or published. This website showcases an image database prototype for use by the educational community. Sponsored by NITLE and NEH funds.
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Routledge Dictionary Of Modern American Slang And Unconventional English
2008 volume contains about 25,000 entries, accompanied by citations that authenticate the words, as well as offer lively examples of usage from popular literature, newspapers, magazines, movies, television shows, musical lyrics, and Internet user groups. Etymology, cultural context, country of origin and the date the word was first used are also provided.
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Symbols.com
"more than 2,500 Western signs, arranged into 54 groups according to their graphic characteristics. In 1,600 articles their histories, uses, and meanings are thoroughly discussed. The signs range from ideograms carved in mammoth teeth by Cro-Magnon men, to hobo signs and subway graffiti."
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Translation Resources On The Web
Subtitled A Guide to Accurate, Free Sites, this compilation lists "gateways to precise multilingual dictionaries and glossaries, as well as directories with access to professional tools."
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Webster's New World Punctuation
2005 guide includes concise explanations of difficult rules, easy-to-understand examples, common pitfalls, suggestions for common writing formats (business letters, job applications, e-mail, etc.), and citation styles.
You can view the table of contents here.
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