The Oxford English Dictionary (20 Volume Set) - 2nd Edition

Eighty years ago, the "greatest work in dictionary-making ever undertaken" was completed. And with its enormous range, unparalleled historical depth, detailed etymologies, and inexhaustible supply of illustrative quotations, it has enriched the lives of writers, readers, and word-lovers ever since. Begun in 1857, published in ten volumes in 1928, subsequently revised and expanded to 20 volumes in 1989, and now adopted to the electronic age, the Oxford English Dictionary (20 Volume Set) - 2nd Edition (OED) has become the most venerated English-language reference ever compiled.

The key feature of the OED, of course, is its historical focus. Accompanying each definition is a chronologically arranged group of quotations that illustrate the evolution of meaning from the word's first recorded usage. The quotations are drawn from a variety of sources—literary, scholarly, technical and popular—and represent a wide range of authors. In all, nearly 2.5 million quotations, illustrating over a half-million words, can be found in the OED. Other features distinguishing the entries are the authoritative definitions, detailed information on pronunciation, variant spellings throughout history, extensive treatments of etymology and details of regional characteristics.

A dictionary like no other in the world, the Oxford English Dictionary has been described as "among the wonders of the world of scholarship." That statement is more apt today than it ever has been.