Subject Guides: English: Dictionaries and Writing Resources

English-Language Dictionaries

Oxford English Dictionary * The comprehensive resource!
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language *
Merriam-Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged *
Historical Thesaurus of English
Online Etymology Dictionary "This is a map of the wheel-ruts of modern English. Etymologies are not definitions; they're explanations of what our words meant and how they sounded 600 or 2,000 years ago."
OneLook Dictionary Search Links to more than 200 general and specialized language and subject dictionaries.
Rhymezone Rhyming Dictionary and Thesaurus Search for perfect rhymes, match ending sounds, get definitions or related words, check spelling, or find homophones, semantic siblings, or synonyms.
Roget's Thesaurus (1911 edition) A classic dictionary of synonyms and antonyms.
The Acronym Server Search for the meanings of abbreviations and acronyms, or find abbreviations and acronyms by typing in words. Includes a list of acronyms that have been searched for but not found.
Abbreviations.com Search acronyms and abbreviation, or move from words in combination to their abbreviation. Browse by categories (e.g. government, computing, etc.).
Merriam-Webster Online Search (Merriam Webster). Includes definitions, pronunciations, spelling, and a thesaurus.
YourDictionary.com Links to collections of English and other-language dictionaries and thesauri.
The Dictionary of American Regional English REF PE 2843 D52 1985 Updates.

*(UMaine only -- requires UMaine ID/MaineCard barcode)

Oxford English Dictionary * The comprehensive resource!
Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English dictionary : with additional material from "A Thesaurus of Old English"
UM Orono Reference PE1591 .H55 2009
Historical Thesaurus of English
Dictionary of Old English
"The Dictionary of Old English (DOE) defines the vocabulary of the first six centuries (C.E. 600-1150) of the English language, using twenty-first century technology. The DOE complements the Middle English Dictionary (which covers the period C.E. 1100-1500) and the Oxford English Dictionary, the three together providing a full description of the vocabulary of English.
Middle English Dictionary
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary (1755) Online
Green’s Dictionary of Slang "Five hundred years of the vulgar tongue."
Online Etymology Dictionary "...a map of the wheel-ruts of modern English."
Passing English of the Victorian era : A Dictionary of Heterodox English, Slang and Phrase, James Redding Ware (1909)
A Dictionary of Slang and Colloquial English, John Stephen Farmer and William Ernest Henley (1905)

Grammar Resources (University of Chicago) "An annotated collection of grammar and writing resources from around the web."
Elements of Style (Strunk, 1918) A standard, if opinionated, guide to prose style.
University of Maine Writing Center Set up an appointment! Includes links to a number of writing and language resources.
Writing and Presenting Your Thesis or Dissertation Online guide to process of writing and defending a thesis or dissertation. Includes summary of key ideas covered in guide and selected list of links at the end.
Guide for Writing a Funding Proposal Companion piece to Writing and Presenting Your Thesis or Dissertation. Covers each section in proposal with writing hints and examples.
Reading, Writing, and Researching for History Part of a series of guides on the process of preparing papers in history prepared by the History Department at Bowdoin. The Writing guide includes sections devoted to structure, content, use of primary materials and formatting papers.
WTS Pamphlets (Indiana University) A series of documents, each on a specific writing situation, including “How to Write a Thesis Statement", “Writing Book Reviews”, and “Writing Resumes and Cover Letters”.
How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography A Cornell University guide to the preparation of annotated bibliographies with sections defining the annotated bibliography, comparisons to abstracting, citation information and examples.