What reference book contains words that can be used in place of another word?
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Dictionaries and thesauruses are reference books for words. But what's the difference between them? When do we use a dictionary and when do we use a thesaurus? Show
A dictionary is a list of words arranged alphabetically, and for each word you can see:
Here is a simple example of a dictionary entry for the noun "dog": dog (noun): a domesticated, meat-eating animal that usually has a long snout, excellent sense of smell, and a barking or howling voice When you want to know what a word means, you look in a dictionary. A thesaurus is a list of words arranged in conceptual groups or alphabetically, and for each word you can see: The supernaturalist alleges that religion was revealed to man by God, and that the form of this revelation is a sacred book. GOD AND MY NEIGHBOURROBERT BLATCHFORDBut Mrs. Dodd, the present vicar's wife, retained the precious prerogative of choosing the book to be read at the monthly Dorcas. THE PIT TOWN CORONET, VOLUME I (OF 3)CHARLES JAMES WILLSA small book, bound in full purple calf, lay half hidden in a nest of fine tissue paper on the dressing-table. HILDA LESSWAYSARNOLD BENNETTAgain the sallow fingers began to play with the book-covers, passing from one to another, but always slowly and gently. BELLA DONNAROBERT HICHENSBeing quieted by the Captain with a draught of cold tea, and made to sit down, the examination of the book proceeded. As the weeks wore on, the pretence of practical teaching was quietly dropped, and we crammed our science out of the text-book. THE SALVAGING OF CIVILISATIONH. G. (HERBERT GEORGE) WELLSThe book contains many words in which some though not all of the letters are in italics, for example Swordsman. Dictionaries and thesauri are reference books for words. A Dictionary contains alphabetical lists of words that includes the meaning, etymology and pronunciation while the thesaurus is a book that contains synonyms and even antonyms. A dictionary explains the meaning of a word and shows how it is spelled and used. A thesaurus is a book that contains words that can be used in place of another word. Unlike the dictionary, the words in a thesaurus are arranged either alphabetically (just like the dictionary) or thematically (words of similar meanings grouped together). A thesaurus (plural thesauri or thesauruses) or synonym dictionary is a reference work for finding synonyms and sometimes antonyms of words.[citation needed] They are often used by writers to help find the best word to express an idea:
Synonym dictionaries have a long history. The word 'thesaurus' was used in 1852 by Peter Mark Roget for his Roget's Thesaurus. While some thesauri, such as Roget's Thesaurus, group words in a hierarchical hypernymic taxonomy of concepts, others are organized alphabetically or in some other way. Most thesauri do not include definitions, but many dictionaries include listings of synonyms. Some thesauri and dictionary synonym notes characterize the distinctions between similar words, with notes on their "connotations and varying shades of meaning". Some synonym dictionaries are primarily concerned with differentiating synonyms by meaning and usage. Usage manuals such as Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage often prescribe appropriate usage of synonyms. Writers sometimes use thesauri to avoid repetition of words — elegant variation — which is often criticized by usage manuals: "writers sometimes use them not just to vary their vocabularies but to dress them up too much". Etymology[edit]The word "thesaurus" comes from Latin , which in turn comes from Greek (thēsauros) 'treasure, treasury, storehouse'. The word thēsauros is of uncertain etymology. Until the 19th century, a thesaurus was any dictionary or encyclopedia, as in the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae (Dictionary of the Latin Language, 1532), and the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (Dictionary of the Greek Language, 1572). It was Roget who introduced the meaning "collection of words arranged according to sense", in 1852. History[edit]Peter Mark Roget, author of Roget's thesaurus. In antiquity, Philo of Byblos authored the first text that could now be called a thesaurus. In Sanskrit, the Amarakosha is a thesaurus in verse form, written in the 4th century. The study of synonyms became an important theme in 18th-century philosophy, and Condillac wrote, but never published, a dictionary of synonyms. Some early synonym dictionaries include:
Roget's Thesaurus, first compiled in 1805 by Peter Mark Roget, and published in 1852, follows John Wilkins' semantic arrangement of 1668. Unlike earlier synonym dictionaries, it does not include definitions or aim to help the user to choose among synonyms. It has been continuously in print since 1852, and remains widely used across the English-speaking world. Roget described his thesaurus in the foreword to the first edition:
Organization[edit]Conceptual[edit]Roget's original thesaurus was organized into 1000 conceptual Heads (e.g., 806 Debt) organized into a four-level taxonomy. For example, debt is classed under V.ii.iv: Class five, Volition: the exercise of the willDivision Two: Social volitionSection 4: Possessive RelationsSubsection 4: Monetary relations.Each head includes direct synonyms: Debt, obligation, liability, ...; related concepts: interest, usance, usury; related persons: debtor, debitor, ... defaulter (808); verbs: to be in debt, to owe, ... see Borrow (788); phrases: to run up a bill or score, ...; and adjectives: in debt, indebted, owing, .... Numbers in parentheses are cross-references to other Heads. The book starts with a Tabular Synopsis of Categories laying out the hierarchy, then the main body of the thesaurus listed by Head, and then an alphabetical index listing the different Heads under which a word may be found: Liable, subject to, 177; debt, 806; duty, 926. Some recent versions have kept the same organization, though often with more detail under each Head. Others have made modest changes such as eliminating the four-level taxonomy and adding new heads: one has 1075 Heads in fifteen Classes. Some non-English thesauri have also adopted this model. In addition to its taxonomic organization, the Historical Thesaurus of English (2009) includes the date when each word came to have a given meaning. It has the novel and unique goal of "charting the semantic development of the huge and varied vocabulary of English". Different senses of a word are listed separately. For example, three difference senses of "debt" are listed in three different places in the taxonomy:
Alphabetical[edit]Other thesauri and synonym dictionaries are organized alphabetically. Most repeat the list of synonyms under each word. Some designate a principal entry for each concept and cross-reference it. A third system interfiles words and conceptual headings. Francis March's Thesaurus Dictionary gives for liability: CONTINGENCY, CREDIT–DEBT, DUTY–DERELICTION, LIBERTY–SUBJECTION, MONEY, each of which is a conceptual heading. The CREDIT—DEBT article has multiple subheadings, including Nouns of Agent, Verbs, Verbal Expressions, etc. Under each are listed synonyms with brief definitions, e.g. "Credit. Transference of property on promise of future payment." The conceptual headings are not organized into a taxonomy. Benjamin Lafaye's Synonymes français (1841) is organized around morphologically related families of synonyms (e.g. logis, logement), and his Dictionnaire des synonymes de la langue française (1858) is mostly alphabetical, but also includes a section on morphologically related synonyms, which is organized by prefix, suffix, or construction. Contrasting senses[edit]Before Roget, most thesauri and dictionary synonym notes included discussions of the differences among near-synonyms, as do some modern ones. Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Synonyms is a stand-alone modern English synonym dictionary that does discuss differences. In addition, many general English dictionaries include synonym notes. Several modern synonym dictionaries in French are primarily devoted to discussing the precise demarcations among synonyms. Additional elements[edit]Some include short definitions. Some give illustrative phrases. Some include lists of objects within the category (hyponyms), e.g. breeds of dogs. Bilingual[edit]Bilingual synonym dictionaries are designed for language learners. One such dictionary gives various French words listed alphabetically, with an English translation and an example of use. Another one is organized taxonomically with examples, translations, and some usage notes. Information science and natural language processing[edit]In library and information science, a thesaurus is a kind of controlled vocabulary. A thesaurus can form part of an ontology and be represented in the Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS). Thesauri are used in natural language processing for word-sense disambiguation and text simplification for machine translation systems. What reference book gives all the different meanings of a word?A dictionary is a resource that lists the words of a language (typically in alphabetical order) and gives their meaning. It can often provide information about pronunciation, origin, and usage.
What is the book that gives synonyms of words?A reference book that contains synonyms and antonyms is called a 'thesaurus.
What is a thesaurus a reference book?A thesaurus is a reference book used to find different words that have the same or similar meanings. According to The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology, the word "thesaurus" comes from the Latin word "thesaurus" which comes from the Greek word "thesauros," both of which mean a treasury or storehouse.
What is a book that lists words in groups of synonyms?The word 'thesaurus' was used in 1852 by Peter Mark Roget for his Roget's Thesaurus. While some thesauri, such as Roget's Thesaurus, group words in a hierarchical hypernymic taxonomy of concepts, others are organized alphabetically or in some other way.
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