Oxford English Dictionary : Word of the Day

Did you know that you can subscribe to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) “Word of the Day” by email?  This is a great way to learn new words and their histories.

1. Follow the OED link above
2. Click Sign up for word of the day, as pictured below
3. And voila! You'll get a new word each day in your email

What makes the OED a go-to reference for scholars in all disciplines is that it is a descriptive dictionary, and not a prescriptive one. That means it tells us the history of the use of a word over time, and not necessarily how we should use the word. Check it out, scholars make reference to it all the time in their work.


Whenever you're writing about any topic, it's always a good idea to define some of your key terms. And it's always interesting to tell your readers something about how others may have used a given term or topic in the past. Give it a try! It's also an easy way to get another page or two out of any paper. Just pick a key concept, see what it says about it in the OED, and give your readers some context.


If you like the OED, check out some of the Library's other Oxford resources. Some of them are listed on the Title List of databases under the letter O.