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RR 2015/016 The Oxford Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms (3rd edition) Oxford University Press Oxford 2014 xiii + 470 pp. ISBN 978 019 870518 5 £9.99 $17.95 Oxford Paperback Reference
Keywords Dictionaries, English language
Review DOI 10.1108/RR-08-2014-0230
The English language is remarkably rich in words with closely related meanings. I have never seen a French or Classical Latin dictionary of synonyms but, if such exist, I would expect them to be extremely slender. English, in all its varieties, is currently the main international language - people all over the world have to study it for commercial, academic or cultural purposes. There is therefore an enormous, worldwide demand for cheap books and other guides to English usage. Oxford University Press is, of course, the publisher of the main English dictionary and therefore has a huge head start over all other publishers in this field.
Although billed as the third edition, this book has quite a complex back history, which Stuart James outlined when reviewing the previous edition (RR 2006/258). Stuart welcomed that edition, with some reservations - "Thesaurus is probably the best term to accommodate this text: it is a fairly extensive dictionary of synonyms". He had "reservations about the antonyms. Many of the entries have none listed" but he felt that it was "clearly organized and well laid-out" and "cheap and easy to use". I would echo all these comments in looking at this edition. I am unsure of the difference between a dictionary of synonyms and a thesaurus, but would personally have used the latter term. The entries are arranged in alphabetical order: a simple straightforward list of English words, each given a brief definition (which makes it a dictionary, I suppose) and a brief selection of synonyms - words with a closely related meaning....