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ENGL:5000 Intro to Graduate Study

A collection of resources to help with both coursework for ENGL:5000 Intro to Graduate Study and general success as a graduate student in the English Department.

OED Basics

Oxford English Dictionary logo includes text "The definitive record of the English Language"

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is widely regarded as the accepted authority on the English language. It is an unsurpassed guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of 600,000 words— past and present—from across the English-speaking world.

As a historical dictionary, the OED is very different from dictionaries of current English, in which the focus is on present-day meanings. You’ll still find present-day meanings in the OED, but you’ll also find the history of individual words, and of the language—traced through 3 million quotations, from classic literature and specialist periodicals to film scripts and cookery books.

Search Tips and Tricks

The OED offers a number of video tutorials and informational links on their site, all aimed at making your experience utilizing the OED easier. Take advantage of them! They can be found on the OED, accessed through the University of Iowa Libraries. 

Screenshot of the listing of videos found on the OED's Video Guides pages

The OED has also created other resources to help you best utilize the Dictionary. Some of them are listed here and linked on the OED landing page.

Listing of Helpful resources from the OED

OED Video Tutorial