Dictionaries

A Dictionary is a book explaining the words of a language, or the terms of a subject, arranged in quite definite order, generally arranged in alphabetical order, with explanation of their meanings and use. It also generally provides the Orthography, pronunciation, usage and meaning of each word. A dictionary is mostly compiled from the written and spoken words as its source. Later on new words and new meanings, when occur, are added.

Some of the uses found for the dictionaries are:

1. Definition 
2. Spelling 
3. Pronunciation 
4. Usage 
5. Synonyms, antonyms and homonyms 
6. Abbreviations, signs and symbols 
7. Slangs 
8. New words, new meanings for old words 
9. Dialect 
10. Foreign terms in English writings 
11. Grammatical information 
12. Etymology 

Dictionaries differ according to the range of words they define and the kind of information they give about each word. There are four types of dictionaries: abridged, unabridged; bilingual and multi-lingual dictionaries. Dictionaries particularly the ones purchased for the libraries are usually hard bound. It is important to remember that the larger the scope of the dictionary, the more expensive a dictionary is to produce and keep up-to-date. Those published by reputed publishers are usually current as they are updated every 3-4 years. The use of computers nowadays assists a lot in production of good quality dictionaries.