Dictionary Building Resources: Difference between revisions
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== | == Recommended Dictionaries & Glossaries == | ||
=== General Dictionaries === | |||
* '''Oxford English Dictionary (OED)''' — [https://www.oed.com/ oed.com] | |||
* Oxford English Dictionary | * '''Merriam-Webster''' — [https://www.merriam-webster.com/ merriam-webster.com] | ||
* Merriam-Webster | * '''Wiktionary''' — [https://www.wiktionary.org/ wiktionary.org] | ||
* Wiktionary | * '''Wordnik''' — [https://www.wordnik.com/ wordnik.com] | ||
* Wordnik | |||
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=== Specialized & Historical === | === Specialized & Historical === | ||
* '''Green’s Dictionary of Slang''' — [https://greensdictofslang.com/ greensdictofslang.com] | |||
* '''Webster’s 1828 Dictionary''' — [https://webstersdictionary1828.com/ webstersdictionary1828.com] | |||
* '''Phrontistery''' — [https://phrontistery.info/ phrontistery.info] — Obscure and rare vocabulary collections | |||
* '''The Grandiloquent Dictionary''' — [https://www.islandnet.com/~egbird/dict/words.pdf PDF edition] — Unusual and sesquipedalian words | |||
* '''Oxford Reference''' — [https://www.oxfordreference.com/ oxfordreference.com] — Subject glossaries (legal, theological, technical, etc.) | |||
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Revision as of 03:57, 20 February 2026
Dictionary Craft Tools
A practical guide for lexicographers, wordsmiths, and neologism architects.
MorDictionary does not merely define words.
We build them. We preserve them. We refine them. We sometimes invent them.
This page collects tools, communities, and reference materials useful for crafting dictionary entries, mining example sentences, and coining neologisms.
Entry Construction Tools
Corpus & Usage Research
- Google Books Ngram Viewer — Google Ngram Viewer — Track historical frequency of words.
- COCA (Corpus of Contemporary American English) — english-corpora.org/coca — Modern American English usage patterns.
- British National Corpus — english-corpora.org/bnc — British English usage data.
- Sketch Engine — sketchengine.eu — Advanced corpus querying tool.
Etymology Research
- Online Etymology Dictionary — etymonline.com — Quick-reference etymology.
- Wiktionary — wiktionary.org — Collaborative etymology chains.
- Perseus Digital Library — perseus.tufts.edu — Classical Greek and Latin texts.
- Oxford English Dictionary (OED) — oed.com — Historical English dictionary (subscription required).
- Webster’s 1828 Dictionary — webstersdictionary1828.com — Early American English reference.
Pronunciation Tools
- IPA Chart — ipa chart
- Forvo — forvo.com — Crowdsourced pronunciation recordings.
- Wiktionary Audio Archives — commons pronunciation files
Frequency & Register Checking
- Word Frequency Lists — wordfrequency.info
- Google Scholar — scholar.google.com — Academic register reference.
- Project Gutenberg — gutenberg.org — Literary corpora for historical usage.
Example Sentence Craft
Sentence Mining Communities
- r/SentenceMiners (Reddit)
- c/SentenceMiners (Lemmy)
Neologism Design
Neologism Communities
- Reddit — r/NeologismsHelp
- Lemmy — c/NeologismHelp
- Linguistics forums and word-creation discussion groups
Recommended Dictionaries & Glossaries
General Dictionaries
- Oxford English Dictionary (OED) — oed.com
- Merriam-Webster — merriam-webster.com
- Wiktionary — wiktionary.org
- Wordnik — wordnik.com
Specialized & Historical
- Green’s Dictionary of Slang — greensdictofslang.com
- Webster’s 1828 Dictionary — webstersdictionary1828.com
- Phrontistery — phrontistery.info — Obscure and rare vocabulary collections
- The Grandiloquent Dictionary — PDF edition — Unusual and sesquipedalian words
- Oxford Reference — oxfordreference.com — Subject glossaries (legal, theological, technical, etc.)
🏛 Collaborative Lexicography
Dictionary-making is no longer confined to ivory towers.
It is communal.
- Wiktionary (open lexicography)
- Community glossaries
- Language preservation projects
- Personal lexicographic blogs
MorDictionary encourages participation, experimentation, and preservation.
📜 Philosophy
We oppose boring dictionaries.
A dictionary entry should:
- Inform
- Contextualize
- Illuminate
- Delight
A lexicon is not merely a record. It is a living archive of thought.
See Also
MorDictionary — A project of the Moribund Institute.