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The OED

@OED

3 years

K-POP, K-DRAMA, K-FOOD... South Korean culture continues to rise in international popularity, and this can be felt not only in pop culture, but also in our language, as evidenced by the words of Korean origin included in the latest update of the OED:

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11 years

Slonk is a now-obsolete verb meaning 'to swallow greedily'.

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6 years

OED Word of the Day: jabroni, n. A stupid, objectionable, or ridiculous man; a loser, a knuckle-head

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12 years

David Bowie: “Don't you love the Oxford Dictionary? When I first read it, I thought it was a really really long poem about everything.”

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7 years

Chaucer’s Wife of Bath (in the Canterbury Tales) was slinging the insult ‘dotard’ over 600 years ago.

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10 years

'Sarcasm' ultimately comes from the Greek term 'sarkazein' - to tear flesh.

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6 years

To celebrate 90 years of the Oxford English Dictionary, we are pleased to be offering free access to the OED for all UK state schools and US and Canadian public K-12 schools for the duration of the 2018/19 academic year. Sign your school up here:

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10 years

"Squirrel" comes from the Greek word "skiouros," literally meaning "shadow-tail."

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6 years

@katemond Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We are working through our unrevised entries to update issues of this type and an adjusted entry will appear online shortly.

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6 years

OED Word of the Day: embiggen, v. To make bigger or greater, to enlarge

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6 years

OED Word of the Day: misosophy, n. Hatred of wisdom

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6 years

OED Word of the Day on J. R. R. Tolkien's 127th birthday: subcreation. n. Tolkien's word for: the action or process of creating a fully realized and internally consistent imaginary (or ‘secondary’) world

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3 years

K-POP, K-DRAMA, K-FOOD... South Korean culture continues to rise in international popularity, and this can be felt not only in pop culture, but also in our language, as evidenced by the words of Korean origin included in the latest update of the OED:

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@OED

4 years

OED Word of the Day: plutodemocracy, n. Rule or government by formal democratic processes but with only the wealthy having any real power.

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7 years

We are honoured to have been described by Ursula Le Guin, in her 2004 essay 'Things Not Actually Present', as an esteemed and cherished 'Auntie'. Rest in peace.

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9 years

Nemophilist: a person who loves or is fond of woods or forests. http://t.co/jDCKw2xlbu

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6 years

#TodayILearned that the earliest example we currently have on file of the adjective 'bitchy' is from a 1908 letter of Virginia Woolf.

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9 years

'Clue' originally meant a ball of thread. The modern meaning coming from its use to guide Theseus out of the labyrinth in Greek mythology.

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1 year

OED Word of the Day: nemorivagant, adj. Wandering in a wood. View the full entry, here:

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5 years

OED Word of the Day on Agatha Christie's 129th birthday: murdermongeress, n. A female writer of murder stories.

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8 years

OED Word of the Day: bookaholic, n. #WorldBookDay

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10 years

Tired of the word ‘awesome’? Alternatives include eximious, braw, topgallant, prestantious, supernacular, or snodger.

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@OED

5 years

At the start of his career, Professor J.R.R. Tolkien worked on the OED by researching the etymologies for a number of words, including 'waggle', 'walrus', and 'waistcoat'. Here, @PeterMGilliver takes a deeper look at Tolkien's contribution to the OED:

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@OED

6 years

We kicked off our #OED90 celebrations online yesterday with the launch of the #WordsWhereYouAre campaign, but there were in-office festivities last Thursday—April 19th being the day when the 1st edition of the OED was completed in 1928! As is good and proper, there was cake.

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@OED

6 years

As part of our celebration of the OED's 90th birthday, we're on the hunt for words and phrases used in English that are particular to cities, regions, and countries around the globe. Submit yours using the #WordsWhereYouAre hashtag! #OED90

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11 months

OED #WordoftheDay : pettle, v.2 To spend time on unimportant, trifling matters, to trifle. View the full entry, here:

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3 years

OED Word of the Day: foolatum, n. (humorous and depreciative) A foolish or stupid person; a fool.

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4 years

The impact that the current pandemic has on the English language can be explored by looking at corpus keywords over the past few months. In March, the top twenty keywords from our new monitor corpus were ALL related to the coronavirus. Learn more, here:

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1 year

OED #WordoftheDay : queemly, adv. In a pleasing or agreeable manner. View the full entry, here:

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7 years

Austen's works provide the first evidence of 39 words in the OED, including 'coddle', 'fragmented' and 'sponge-cake' #janeausten200

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6 years

OED Word of the Day: quidam, n. An unknown or unspecified individual; somebody; (also) a person of no consequence, a nobody h http://bit.ly/2A5DcYG

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@OED

2 months

OED #WordOfTheDay : oligosyllabic, adj. Having few syllables. View the full entry here:

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1 year

OED #WordoftheDay : amnicolist, n. A person or animal that lives beside a river. View the full entry, here:

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@OED

6 years

As part of our #OED90 activities we're going to be highlighting some of the fascinating titbits our editors learn on a day-to-day basis while they work on the OED.

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1 year

OED #WordoftheDay : qualm, n.2 The sound of the cry of a raven. View the full entry, here:

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4 months

OED #WordOfTheDay : misology, n. Hatred of reason or discussion; (also) hatred of learning or knowledge. View the OED entry:

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7 years

OED Word of the Day: flâneuse, n. A woman who saunters around observing life and society; a leisurely woman about town

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5 years

Caroline Herschel was the world’s first professional female astronomer. Her 1787 paper (‘An account on a new comet’) was one of the first papers by a female author to appear in any scientific journal, and the first paper by a woman to be read to the Royal Society. #WomenInScience

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1 year

Happy #InternationalCatDay ! 🐈 Did you know that an ailurophile is a ‘person who is fond or enthusiastic about cats; a cat-lover’? To learn more about the word's frequency, pronunciation, and etymology, view the OED entry:

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@OED

8 years

A 'snuggery' is a cosy or comfortable room, especially one of small size, into which a person retires for seclusion or quiet.

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5 years

OED Word of the Day: halcyon, n. In classical mythology: a bird, usually identified as a kingfisher, which brooded around the time of the winter solstice in a nest floating on the sea, charming the wind and waves into calm.

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7 years

As Autumn draws on: 'feuillemorte' (or 'filemot') is a word for the brown or yellowish brown colour of a dead or faded leaf.

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10 years

#DidYouKnow that 'inaugural' comes from the Latin inaugurāre, meaning 'to take omens from the flight of birds'?

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1 year

OED #WordoftheDay : milver, n. A person with whom one shares a strong interest in a particular topic, esp. that of words and wordplay. View the full entry, here:

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6 years

OED Word of the Day: nonplus, n. A state in which no more can be said or done; inability to proceed in speech or action; a state of perplexity or puzzlement; a standstill

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5 years

OED Word of the Day: alazony, n. Failure to recognize irony, esp. due to arrogance, misplaced self-confidence, or a lack of self-awareness

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9 months

OED #WordOfTheDay : confuddled, adj. Confused, perplexed, or befuddled; muddled or mixed up; intoxicated. View the full entry, here:

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11 months

OED #WordoftheDay : moggadored, adj. Confused; confounded, at a loss. View the full entry, here:

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7 years

Happy 308th birthday to Samuel Johnson, lexicographer extraordinaire, born #OTD in 1709!

Who was Samuel Johnson? The father of the modern dictionary's funniest entries

Samuel Johnson, who wrote the English language's most comprehensive dictionary in the 1750s, has been honoured by a Google Doodle on what would have been his 308th birthday.

www.telegraph.co.uk

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1 year

The new OED website has just launched 🎉 The new site places OED data at the heart of the academic research journey and provides clearer navigation, making all the rich content in the OED easy to access and understand. Take a look for yourself here:

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1 year

OED Word of the Day: misocapnist, n. A person who hates tobacco smoke. View the full entry, here:

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10 months

OED #WordOfTheDay : pepper-nosed, adj. Liable to take offence, easily offended or angered. View the full entry, here:

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@OED

10 years

Historical synonyms for 'talkative person' include blabberer, clatterfart, bablatrice, twattle-basket, nimble-chops, & jawsmith.

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6 years

OED Word of the Day on J. D. Salinger's 100th birthday: backasswards, adv. Backwards, back to front, the wrong way round; in a manner contrary to what is usual, expected, or logical

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6 years

Though it causes much gnashing of teeth among certain grammarians today, the singular 'they' is nothing new. @DrGrammar gives a brief history of the pronoun on the OED blog:

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6 years

So, to kick things off… " #TodayILearned that George Orwell wasn't the first person to use 'thought crime' and 'thought police': these terms had both been used in similar senses in the 1930s, in translations from Japanese."

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@OED

3 years

Would you like a new role researching the origin, meaning and usage of words? We are looking for two new entry-level lexicographers to join our New Words and Revision teams at the OED. LEARN MORE >

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8 years

'Lorthew' is a medieval word for 'teacher'. It represents an unattested Old English word 'lārþēow', literally meaning 'knowledge slave'.

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6 years

Gin and tonic was introduced in the British army in India in the 19th c. as a way of making the antimalarial quinine more palatable, by mixing it with gin & adding water, sugar, & lime. Earliest written evidence comes from @timesofindia in 1872. #Internationalginandtonicday

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1 year

OED #WordoftheDay : machaeromancy, n. Divination by means of knives or swords. View the full entry, here:

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1 year

OED #WordoftheDay : politicophobia, n. An irrational fear of politics or politicians. View the full entry, here:

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6 years

OED Word of the Day: ataraxy, n. Freedom from disturbance of mind or passion; stoical indifference

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6 years

OED Word of the Day: hippanthropy, n. The delusional belief that one is a horse

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4 years

OED Word of the Day: garboil, n. Confusion, turmoil; disturbance, tumult; discord, controversy. Also: an instance or state of confusion, disturbance, discord, etc.; a disorderly or tumultuous event.

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7 years

Ragnarök, n. - OED Word of the Day: Ragnarök, n.

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6 years

OED Word of the Day on Lewis Carroll's 187th birthday: rabbit hole, n. Used to indicate passage into a strange, surreal, or nonsensical situation or environment

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6 years

OED Word of the Day: quiddity, n. The inherent nature or essence of a person or thing; what makes a thing what it is h http://bit.ly/2srCbWA

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5 months

OED #WordOfTheDay : otiosity, n. The condition or state of being unoccupied or inactive; ease; idleness, laziness; redundancy, ineffectuality. View the full entry:

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7 months

OED #WordOfTheDay : alethiology, n. The study of truth; that part of logic or philosophy which deals with the nature of truth. View the full entry, here:

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2 months

OED #WordOfTheDay : obnebulate, v. To obscure with or as with a mist; to befog, cloud. View the full entry here:

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6 years

The OED needs your help! For our latest appeal, we want to hear about the words and expressions unique to your workplace. Whether you’re a doctor, journalist, firefighter, builder, shopkeeper, or anything else, share your #WordsAtWork with the OED!

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1 year

OED #WordoftheDay : owl-light, n. Twilight, dusk; dim or poor light. View the full entry, here:

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3 years

OED Word of the Day: craftivist, n. A person who creates and displays handmade objects, esp. items incorporating knitted or sewn text or imagery, to promote a political message or raise awareness of a social issue.

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10 years

#DidYouKnow that a centaur with the lower body and legs of a donkey would be called an "onocentaur"?

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8 years

‘Lorthew’ is a medieval word for ‘teacher’. It represents an unattested Old English word ‘lārþēow’, literally meaning ‘knowledge slave’.

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10 years

Petrichor: a pleasant smell that frequently accompanies the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather.

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3 months

OED #WordOfTheDay : witches' knickers, n. colloquial (chiefly Irish English). Discarded plastic bags or shreds of plastic bags that have become snagged in trees, hedges, etc. View the full entry, here:

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9 years

'Slonk' is a now-obsolete verb meaning 'to swallow greedily'.

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7 years

OED Word of the Day: otium cum dignitate, n. Leisure with dignity; dignified leisure or ease; spec. retirement from public life

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11 months

OED #WordoftheDay : idolon fori, n. A false or misleading belief caused by ambiguous or erroneous use of language. View the full entry, here:

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4 years

FREE WEBINAR: World Englishes and the OED Join @danica_salazar and @KingsUgwuanyi on 30th April as they present a live discussion about how global varieties of English are being included in the OED. To learn more about the webinar, click here:

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1 year

OED #WordoftheDay : crazy-pants, n. A person completely lacking in common sense, reason, or intelligence; a highly eccentric person. View the full entry, here:

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1 year

OED #WordoftheDay : alembication, n. The action or an act of refining something or making something purer or more perfect; distillation; the result of this. View the full entry, here:

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10 months

OED #WordOfTheDay : confuddle, v. To perplex, confuse, confound, or befuddle (a person); to muddle or mix up (speech, thoughts, etc.). View the full entry, here:

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1 year

OED Word of the Day: otaku, n. Originally in Japan: a person extremely knowledgeable about the minute details of a particular hobby (esp. a solitary or minority hobby). View the full entry, here:

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6 years

#TodayILearned that the name “Art Deco”, so strongly associated with the 1920s and 1930s, is not recorded before the 1960s.

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1 year

OED #WordoftheDay : noctilucent, adj. Luminescent at night or in the dark; (also) shining at night or in the dark. View the full entry, here:

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6 years

More than 1400 new words, senses, and phrases have been added to the OED in its most recent 'updation', including 'prepper', 'fam', and 'idiocracy'.

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9 years

E L James has nothing on the @OED . Check out our 'Fifty Shades of Grey' http://t.co/ny02uUnKfY http://t.co/jHNvaef2pM

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7 years

OED Word of the Day: obambulate, v. To walk about; to wander here and there

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1 year

OED #WordoftheDay : toplofty, adj. Self-important, superior; haughty, high and mighty. Also of language: high-flown, bombastic. View the full entry, here:

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9 years

Lost for words? 'Onomatomania' is the frustration at being unable to think of an appropriate word.

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1 year

OED #WordoftheDay : muset, n.1 A gap in a hedge or fence through which hares, rabbits, or other animals may pass. View the full entry, here:

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4 years

OED Word of the Day: philobiblist, n. A lover of books.

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10 years

'Ostracize' derives from the Greek ostrakon 'shell or potsherd'; names were written on these when voting to banish unpopular citizens.

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10 years

"Torschlusspanik" - from German, a sense of alarm or anxiety caused by the suspicion that life's opportunities are passing one by.

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10 years

Historical synonyms for 'one who jokes' include scogginist, buffoon, banterer, jack-pudding, farceur, & merry-andrew. #AprilFoolsDay

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6 years

OED Word of the Day: accismus, n. In rhetoric: the pretended refusal of something one keenly desires

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8 years

An ‘opsimath’ is a person who begins to learn or study late in life.

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10 months

OED #WordoftheDay : william-nilliam, adv. Whether one likes it or not, willingly or unwillingly; (also) haphazardly; = willy-nilly adv. View the full entry, here:

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