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LINKS: Dictionaries, Glossaries, & Language Resources

General References · International · Poetry & Rhyme · Topical Glossaries · Look Up a Word
See also: Links to Grammar Resources

General References

90 Best Online Dictionaries
https://custom-writing.org/blog/100-best-online-dictionaries-stock-up-on-new-words-today
Here's a great place to start looking for dictionaries - it has a variety of English dictionaries, including British English, Australian, various types of slang, etc., plus a host of specialized glossaries.

Dictionary.com
https://www.dictionary.com/
Look up words, play games, get the word of the day and much more.

TheFreeDictionary.com
https://www.TheFreeDictionary.com
Offers a "dictionary, thesaurus, literature refernece library and search engine all in one." Also offers a script that enables you to include a dictionary search box on your own website.

Merriam-Webster Online: Language Center
http://www.merriam-webster.com/
If your dictionary isn't handy, look up words on this site -- and find out when a word first (officially) entered the English language. It also gives you a word a day, a list of words that sound like insults (but aren't), and many other fun features.

One-Look Dictionaries
https://www.onelook.com
A lookup page that accesses the resources of over 1000 dictionaries, plus an interesting thesaurus function.

One-Look Thesaurus
https://www.onelook.com/thesaurus/
Use the list below the search box to generate terms and synonyms around a particular concept.

Oxford English Dictionary
https://www.oed.com/

Thesaurus.com
https://www.thesaurus.com/
Search for synonyms, antonyms, or word categories; look up words, place names, biblical names and zip codes; take quizzes and enjoy daily crosswords and word search puzzles; translate text and web pages.

Wordsmyth: The Educational Dictionary/Thesaurus
http://www.wordsmyth.net/
This site offers regular dictionary functions plus a lot of resources for students and children.

World Wide Words
https://www.worldwidewords.org/
Devoted to the English language -- its history, quirks, curiosities and evolution. Includes Weird Words, topical words, definitions, usage, phrases, and more. This site is no longer actively maintained, but has an archive of over 3000 articles.

YourDictionary.com
http://www.yourdictionary.com
Look up words through the search function, or browse articles on translation and language issues, or explore the more than 230 international language dictionaries and glossaries (including multilingual dictionaries and endangered languages).

World Languages

Aboriginal Languages of Australia
https://www.dnathan.com/VL/index.php
Links to grammars, dictionaries and other resources relating to the non-English languages spoken in Australia (such as Kamilaroi, Ayapathu and Jingulu), plus topics like "Bush Food and Medicine" and more.

Digital Dictionaries of Southeast Asia
https://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/

FreeTranslator.com
http://www.free-translator.com
Offers a variety of free translation interfaces.

Lexicool Online Dictionaries Sorted by Language
https://www.lexicool.com/dictionaries.asp
Links to hundreds of individual language dictionaries.

Logos Dictionary
https://www.logosdictionary.org/
Enter a word to get a translation, conjugate verbs in various languages, and more.

Verbix Online Conjugator
https://www.verbix.com/languages/
Conjugate verbs in a host of languages, modern and ancient (including Old Saxon, Proto-Indo-European, Swahile, and dozens more.)

YourDictionary.com: Foreign Language Online Dictionaries and Free Translation Links
https://www.yourdictionary.com/articles/foreign-language-dicts

Poetic and Rhyming Dictionaries

Glossary of Poetic Terms
http://www.poeticbyway.com/glossary.html

Glossary of Poetic Terms
https://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/glossary
A fascinating collection of terms, from acatalectic to zeugma.

Rhymezone Semantic Rhyming Dictionary
https://www.rhymezone.com/
Look up rhymes by sound, number of syllables, and preferred meaning.

The Ultimate Rhyming Dictionary
https://www.rappad.co/rhyming-dictionary

Topical and Specialized Glossaries

Abbreviations.com
http://www.abbreviations.com
Search for acronyms and abbreviations, or browse by category (e.g., computers, science, food, games, international, etc. -- 117 categories in all).

Acronym Finder
http://www.acronymfinder.com
"With more than 1,000,000 human-edited definitions, Acronym Finder is the world's largest and most comprehensive dictionary of acronyms, abbreviations, and initialisms. Acronym Finder contains more than 5 million acronyms and abbreviations. You can also search for more than 850,000 US and Canadian postal codes."

The Acronym Server
http://acronyms.silmaril.ie//index.html#0
Type in any acronym for a list of possible meanings.

Antique Words, by C. J. Cherryh
https://www.cherryh.com/www/antique1.htm
A list of words that were commonly used prior to the 1900's; useful if you'd like to avoid anachronistic phrases in your historical fiction.

Business & Economic Glossary
https://taprun.com/glossary/
The best place to learn about the role of bears, bulls, cows, sharks and whales in the world of business! (Check out the rest of this site, which has a huge collection of information on business matters.)

Castle Terms
http://www.castlesontheweb.com/glossary.html

Cliché Finder
https://westegg.com/cliche/
An interesting resource that enables you to search for "clichés" by keyword (e.g., a search on "cat" provides such gems as "Busier than a one-eyed cat watching two mouseholes").

A Dictionary of Slang and English Colloquialisms
http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/

Easton's Bible Dictionary
https://www.ccel.org/ccel/easton/ebd2.toc.html

Feudal Terminology
http://home.olemiss.edu/~tjray/medieval/feudal.htm

Glossary of Grammatical Terms
http://www.writingenglish.com/glossary.htm

How Many? A Dictionary of Units of Measurement
https://www.ibiblio.org/units/

Interjections by Language
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:Interjections_by_language

Medical Dictionary of Health Terms (Harvard Medical School)
https://www.health.harvard.edu/a-through-c

Names of Winds
https://ggweather.com/winds.html
A fascinating collection, giving names of different types of winds and storms in various parts of the world.

Netlingo: The Internet Dictionary
https://www.netlingo.com/
Includes texting and chat terms.

The Omnificent English Dictionary In Limerick Form
http://www.oedilf.com/db/Lim.php
An effort to define every word in the English language with a limerick; currently up to "ho"! (They hope to finish in 2063). Definitely a site by, and for, people with way too much time in their hands. Loads of fun, though - try looking up "eohippus" as an example.

Smith's Bible Dictionary
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/smith_W/bibledict

Symbols.com
http://www.symbols.com
"Symbols.com is a unique online encyclopedia that encompasses comprehensive information on symbols, signs, flags, and glyphs — systematically organized into categories such as culture, country, religion, and others."

Twists, Slugs and Roscoes: A Glossary of Hardboiled Slang
https://www.miskatonic.org/slang.html
A fun guide to "detective" and police slang, especially of the 20's, 30's and 40's.

The Urban Dictionary
https://www.urbandictionary.com/
A crowd-sourced collection of modern terms, slang, catchphrases, etc., some fleeting, some that have endured.

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