Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

• Dictionaries
• Abbreviations and Acronyms
• Computer and Internet Dictionaries
• English Language Dictionaries
• Foreign Language Dictionaries and Translators
• Quotations
• Special Subjects
• Thesauri
• Encyclopedias

Acronym Finder

Searchable database contains over 157,000 common abbreviations and acronyms about computers, technology, telecommunications, and military acronyms and abbreviations. The "definitions" are simply expansions of the acronyms and abbreviations into one or more possible names.
http://www.AcronymFinder.com/

All That JAS: Journal Abbreviation Sources

Online registry of Web resources that list or provide access to the full title of journal abbreviations. Useful for deciphering abbreviated title references in citations and databases. Compiled and maintained by Gerry McKiernan, Science and Technology Librarian and Bibliographer at the Iowa State University Library.
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~CYBERSTACKS/JAS.htm

World Wide Web Acronym and Abbreviation Server

Searchable database of acronyms and abbreviations is useful as a fast lookup tool. The site is maintained by Peter Flynn at University College, Cork in Ireland.
http://www.ucc.ie/info/net/acronyms/index.html

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FOLDOC: Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

A a searchable dictionary of acronyms, jargon, programming languages, tools, architectures, operating systems, networking, theory, mathematics, telecoms, institutions, companies, projects, products, history, and other terms related to computing. Begun in 1985, the dictionary now contains over 12000 definitions totalling 4.7 megabytes of text.
http://nightflight.com/foldoc/

whatis?com

Well-organized computer and internet dictionary can be browsed or searched. Includes over 2,000 individual encyclopedic definition/topics, most of which contain selected hyperlinked cross-references to other sites for further information. Additional quick-reference pages treat such subjects as file format codes, chat acronyms, and hexadecimal color codes for web pages.
http://whatis.techtarget.com/

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The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language (1996 Edition)

This unabridged third edition includes over 350,000 entries and meanings. Over 34,000 examples of use are incorporated into the word definitions; also contains more than 500 usage notes, a pronunciation key, and an appendix of Indo-European roots. You can search by entry word or by the full text of the definitions.
http://www.bartleby.com/61/

Cambridge Dictionaries Online

Four online dictionaries are available here: (a) the Cambridge Dictionary of American English; (b) the Cambridge International Dictionary of English; (c) the Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms; and (d) the Cambridge International Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. The entries are very brief, and you can search only one dictionary at a time, but for quick reference these are useful tools.
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/

The Glossarist

This searchable compilation of glossaries covers so many subject areas that it can be considered a large multi-subject dictionary. Now contains over 4,500 glossaries, 679 of which have been cataloged into 130 categories, so you can browse the subject areas to find the right context for your term.
http://www.glossarist.com/

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate^® Dictionary (1999 Edition)

The online version of this standard print dictionary includes the main A-Z listing of words, as well as the abbreviations, foreign words and phrases, biographical names, and geographical names sections of the print version. It also includes 1,000 illustrations and 25 tables.
http://www.m-w.com/netdict.htm

OneLook^® Dictionaries

Custom search engine indexes a variety of online dictionaries. As of April 2001, its database included almost 3 million terms from 682 dictionaries. The site contains a directory of all indexed dictionaries so you can narrow your search by going to a specialized source.
http://www.onelook.com/

WordReference.com (Collins English Dictionary)

Scroll down to the "English Definition" search field to use an excellent online dictionary containing definitions for approximately 200,000 words.
http://www.wordreference.com

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Foreignword.com

Online translation tool developed by a computer scientist specializing in natural language processing and a translator/linguist. The site includes 178 dictionaries with 63 source languages and 64 target languages (amounts to over 300 source-target language pairs for searching). You can specify the source and target language for any term you wish to enter.
http://www.foreignword.com/

Language Dictionaries [from yourDictionary.com]

The former Web of Online Dictionaries site established by Prof. Robert Beard of Bucknell University in 1995 became yourDictionary.com in 1999. Massive directory of online dictionaries currently contains more than 1,500 dictionaries representing more than 230 languages. The dictionaries vary greatly in size and quality, and some languages are poorly represented, but few sites have been as active in indexing language resources available on the web. The site also includes many subject and English language dictionaries.
http://www.yourdictionary.com/languages.html

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Bartlett's Familiar Quotations (1919 Edition)

Tenth edition of this classic reference contains over 11,000 quotations and was the first new edition of John Bartlett’s corpus to be published after his death in 1905. Keep the year of publication in mind when searching.
http://www.bartleby.com/100/

The Quotations Archive

Over 1,600 quotations on a range of topics (the subject index includes over 60 topical categories). Can be browsed or searched. Compiled and maintained by Susan Brumbaugh of Aphids Communications since 1993.
http://www.aphids.com/quotes/index.shtml

Simpson’s Contemporary Quotations: The Most Notable Quotations: 1950–1988

More than 10,000 quotations from 4,000 sources. Simpson includes 25 categories and 60 sections ranging from “love” to “criminology.” Contains author and subject indexes for browsing, or search the full text.
http://www.bartleby.com/63/

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Academic Press Dictionary of Science and Technology

This specialized dictionary contains over 133,000 entries and covers 124 specific areas of science and technology defined by the editors. Many entries include links to secondary terms and cross-references.
http://www.harcourt.com/dictionary/

ArtLex: Visual Arts Dictionary

A personal project of California-based teacher Michael Delahunt, ArtLex is an online lexicon of over 3,300 art terms with definitions, images, pronunciation notes, quotations, and links to other resources on the Web. Intended for use by "artists, students and educators in art production, criticism, history, aesthetics, and education."
http://www.artlex.com/

BuzzWhack: The Buzzword Compliant Dictionary

This useful dictionary helps keep track of the ever-growing number of acronyms, buzzwords and jargon expressions that emerge from the business world. As many of these terms can quickly migrate into other contexts, BuzzWhack can assist you in making sense of them.
http://www.buzzwhack.com/

A Dictionary of Slang

Although this UK-based dictionary of slang terms emphasizes usage in British English, terms from other countries are also included and in such cases, if known, the country of origin is indicated.
http://www.dictionaryofslang.co.uk/

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms

Over 115,000 definitions from the fields of geology, ecology, psychology, engineering, hydrology, fluid mechanics, chemistry, chemical engineering , genetics, ordnance, meteorology and biochemistry. Based on the 1994 print version, this online edition also includes many new entries. No illustrations, but this is still a useful reference tool for science and technology studies..
http://www.accessscience.com/Dictionary/

The Nonverbal Dictionary of Gestures, Signs & Body Language Cues

Dictionary of over 250 entries for terms and concepts in nonverbal communication edited by David Givens, director of the Center for Nonverbal Studies, a private, nonprofit research center located in Spokane, Washington and La Jolla, California. The dictionary covers such aspects of nonverbal communication as body movement, gesture, facial expression, adornment and fashion, architecture, mass media, and consumer-product design.
http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/diction1.htm

Online Dictionary of Mental Health

Site originally organized by the Centre for Psychotherapeutic Studies at the University of Sheffield is not a dictionary in the traditional sense but rather "an exercise in democratic psychiatry....Therefore there are no definitions here; instead there are links to many sites offering different viewpoints on issues in mental health." The site is organized by an alphabetical and subject index, and it also provides access to specialized search engines.
http://www.human-nature.com/odmh/index.html

Online Dictionary of the Social Sciences

Maintained by Athabasca University in Alberta, this dictionary contains about 1,000 terms covering the disciplines of sociology, criminology, political science, and women's studies. Many of the specific examples, events, and names mentioned in the definitions have a Canadian focus. A good general resource for social science terminology.
http://bitbucket.icaap.org/

[Science] Reference Desk

Page hosted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science contains links to dictionaries and glossaries in several scientific disciplines, including agriculture, archaeology and paleontology, biological science, chemistry, computer and information science, environmental and earth science, mathematics, medicine and health, the physical sciences, and space sciences.
http://www.eurekalert.org/links.php

Symbols.com

Online version of Carl G. Liungman's book Thought Signs: The Semiotics of Symbols - Western Non-Pictorial Ideograms is an interesting attempt to construct a searchable database of images, in this case graphical (inconic and aniconic) representations of concepts. The site is easier to search using the "Word Index," although it also contains a "Graphic Index" you can use to describe a symbol in terms of its visual properties.
http://www.symbols.com/

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Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus (1995 Edition)

Containing 35,000 synonyms in an easy-to-use format, this thesaurus features succinct word definitions and a hyperlinked category index.
http://www.bartleby.com/62/

Thesaurus.com

Online version of Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases.
http://www.thesaurus.com/

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The Britannica Concise Encyclopedia

Hosted by Yahoo!, this online edition of a standard one-volume reference work (known as the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Encyclopedia in print contains over 25,000 alphabetical entries, covering the arts, business, computers, geography, history, literature, medicine, philosophy, politics and popular culture.
http://education.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition (2000)

Over 50,000 article entries, 40,000 bibliographic citations, and 80,000 cross-reference entries are featured in this recently published encyclopedia. You can browse the alphabetical list of entries or search the full text.
http://www.bartleby.com/65/

Encarta Encyclopedia

Free online version of Microsoft's print and CD-ROM encyclopedia contains only about a third of the content found on the commercial products, but that still leaves some 16,000 entries, a dictionary, and an atlas.
http://encarta.msn.com/

How Stuff Works

This unique reference source answers questions about the mechanics of how a variety of things work. Although the emphasis is on technical devices (e.g., car engines, photocopiers, home appliances, etc.), the essays also address social processes and other interesting phenomena.
http://www.howstuffworks.com/

Merck Manual of Medical Information (Home Edition)

This standard reference work for medical information uses everyday language to describe diseases, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. You can choose a simple text or enhanced multimedia version online.
http://www.merckhomeedition.com/home.html

TechEncyclopedia

Online version of the content in CMP Media, Inc.'s Computer Desktop Encyclopedia, containing over 20,000 computer and information technology terms and definitions.
http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/

xrefer.com

This "reference engine" contains encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri, books of quotations and reference works produced by several major publishers (including Houghton Mifflin, Macmillan, Oxford University Press, and Penguin). Covers a wide range of subjects. Hyperlinked cross-references make searching easy.
http://www.xrefer.com/