Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary: With Additional Material from a Thesaurus of Old English [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

After reading a review that described this thesaurus as being written in a code of its own, virtually unintelligible, I felt compelled to provide some updated information. When I first received the thesaurus I found looking up words with the provided thematic system of classification somewhat daunting. The Historical Thesaurus of the OED uses a thematic system of classification and is organized into three major sections: I The external world; II The mental world; III The social world. From these broad catagories you can simply narrow down your search into more specific catagories. An example of this structure is 02 The mind ....02.02 Emotion....02.02.22 Love....02.02.22.04 Terms of endearment.... Overall, the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary contains almost 800,000 meanings, organized into more than 236,000 categories and subcategories. The concept is fantastic and if you are having trouble coming up with a synonym the thematic system is very effective albeit somewhat slow.

It wasn't until several days into using the thesaurus that I stumbled into the second volume. The entire volume (all 2,109 pages of it) are dedicated to words with references to sections in volume 1 for their synonyms. Volume 1 is the Thesaurus itself, organized according to the semantic categories outlined above, while Volume 2 is an alphabetical Index listing the majority of the synonyms in Volume 1. You can approach the content of the Thesaurus in different ways: either by looking up a single lexical item in the Index and be directed to the appropriate section in the main Thesaurus, or by browsing by semantic category directly, and seeing words in their context of both historical development and the overall organization of meaning.

To get a flavor of the workings of the thesaurus and a sample page go to Oxford University Press web site (Sorry but Amazon will not let me insert the link, just think "OED", then search the site for historical thesaurus, then click on the link Read more about "the largest thesaurus in the world" link).

I was very hesitant to shell out $$$ for book I didn't know if I would like, but retrospectively I don't regret the purchase and have had a lot of fun with it. I also purchased the CD ROM version 4.0 of the dictionary Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Edition, Version 4.0 (Windows & Mac) and have found it to be equally useful. I believe anyone who found this thesaurus to be an "Indecipherable Code" may not have explored Volume 2. Hope this review helps.

dasiberd Obs.

Also dasy-, daysy-, dasa-, dose-, dosa-, dossi-, doziberd(e, dosebeirde.

[The better form is prob. dasyberd = dazy-beard: see dazy a. inert, dull. Mätzner compares LG. dösbârt, and the same notion appears in Lowland Sc. dulbart, dulbert = dull-beard, dullard.]

A stupid fellow, dullard, simpleton.

I was about to send this back because I had the same reservations expressed in other reviews. The relatively small print! The bizarre organization! I had a very negative initial reaction. I put the two heavy and unwieldy volumes back in their box, wrapped them up and had them ready to send back to Amazon. Then I decided not to be too hasty and to give the volumes a second look. On the second look -- both volumes open side by side -- I fell in love.
The Oxford Historical Thesaurus is an inexhaustible intellectual gift to all English speakers. The lucidity of the categories gives you a new way to approach your language and a new way to approach the concepts in your own mind. Being able to watch words evolve from Old English to our modern time allows you to see the arrival and development of cherished concepts -- the slow blooming of a branch as bud after bud opens off the central stalk. In the end even the typeface is pretty easily readable, (despite its relatively small font size). These books are an enduring invitation to jubilation.
Users of English owe an immense debt of gratitude to the researchers and compilers at the University of Glasgow and the University of London and all the teams of people who helped them over the long years of their labor.What they have built strikes me as far bigger even than their labors - a truly inexhaustible gift to English speakers.

First, Amazon has the wrong dimensions. Each book is about 11.5" by 9" with the entire cased set equaling 11.75" by 9" by 5.25". For those of us who own the Deluxe Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, the height is a perfect match with the depth being just barely .25" shorter. Essentially, they match. The slipcase is not the usual shiny blue used on the Compact OED or in the Deluxe Shorter. It is made of the same material as the cloth hardcover book binding. This set is heavy and, as usual, Amazon uses virtually no packing materials so be prepared for damage in shipping as the slipcase will dent.

The above description provided by Amazon pretty much describes the text, although the format is very unusual so be prepared to spend some time reading the "how to" section. Otherwise it will make little sense. This book set is essentially worth it only for a reader who truly enjoys the history of English.