The Oxford English Minidictionary [antikvár]

PrefaceThe Oxford English Minidictionary is the smallest member ofthe Oxford family of dictionaries, and is written for those whoneed a compact guide to the spelling and meaning of words inthe English language of today.* mThis new edition has been extensively updated in the light ofevidence collected by the Oxford Dictionaries Department sincethe previous edition was published. Many new words andphrases have been added, and new features have been intro-duced giving extra guidance on the language. The overall layoutof the entries has also been improved, making all the informa-tion provided clearer and more accessible.In spite of its small format the dictionary gives many alterna-tive spellings (a great many more than in previous editions,including American English variants). It also offers clear helpin cases where there might be doubt about the formation orspelling of inflected forms: difficult plural forms of nouns andthose inflections of verbs and comparatives of adjectives whichare not wholly straightforward are spelt out in full.Another new feature of the dictionary is easy-to-read guid-ance on the pronunciation of difficult words, using a system thatis intended to be self-explanatory.;iMMore prominence has been given in this edition to assistanceon disputed and controversial usage, and special usage noteshave been introduced to this end. There are over a hundred suchnotes giving advice on correct English, focusing on areas suchas spelling, style, and commonly confused words.H.F.L., E.B.P.