Writing the definition

The meaning of a word can usually be determined from the examples of usage we have collected.

It takes years of training and practice for a lexicographer to be able to encapsulate this meaning accurately in a single sentence.

When quotations aren't enough

It usually only takes a few minutes for a lexicographer to get a rough idea of the meaning of a new word from the quotations provided by the reading programme. These quotations do not, however, always provide enough information for a full definition.

For example, it quickly becomes apparent from the following quotations that mahewu is a type of non-alcoholic drink.

In order to improve on “a type of non-alcoholic drink”, we need to do some research. We need to know where mahewu is made, what it is made from, and so on. This involves using our electronic resources and looking in libraries for more information, until we have enough to write a full definition. The draft definition is then sent to a specialist consultant, who will point out any mistakes or missing information. Finally, we are able to label the entry “S. Afr.” (indicating that the word is used mainly in South Africa), and say that mahewu is:

Mind your language

Occasionally it is impossible to avoid using an unfamiliar word in a definition

The wording of a definition has to tread a fine line between being widely understandable and being technically accurate. Occasionally it is impossible to avoid using an unfamiliar word in a definition.

For example, one of the meanings of the sumo-wrestling term maegashira is defined in the OED's Third Edition as “the lower rank of wrestler within the Makunouchi division”. Using the word Makunouchi in the definition has the disadvantage that the reader may then have to look it up separately. However, a definition which did not use this word would be twice as long and much more difficult to read.

For clarity, definitions must also be written in a consistent style. There are many different categories of words which have certain features in common, such as names of chemical elements, words ending in -phobia, verbs, and so on. The common features of a type word are reflected in particular aspects of its definition. For example, the definition of each chemical element includes its atomic number and some of its physical properties.

Why revise the OED's definitions?

The original OED, published between 1884 and 1928, conformed to all these guidelines, and yet its definitions still need revising.

This is partly because the language has changed so much in the last hundred years or so that many of its definitions now appear ambiguous, archaic, and sometimes even offensive.

For example, the definition of bicycle from the first edition of the OED reads “A machine for rapid riding, consisting of a saddle-seat surmounting two wheels, to which the rider communicates motion by means of treadles; a two-wheeled velocipede”.

The same process will happen to the definitions we are now writing, so that in a hundred years time, or fifty, or less, much of the OED will once again need to be revised.

In addition, electronic searching of the OED's text allows other improvements to be made:

• Every quotation in the OED can be searched for evidence of a word. When the OED was first compiled, the editors only had access to those slips which had been filed under the word. Now that we have the full text of the OED as a searchable database, the histories of words can be more fully investigated.
• Related entries can be compared much more easily, allowing the definitions to be more consistent. The original editors, writing the entries from scratch over a period of many years, made gradual improvements in their style as they gained experience by solving problems posed by particular entries. By this time, though, parts of the Dictionary had already been published and could not be changed.

Arranging the definitions

When a word has several different meanings, these must be arranged within the entry so as to give a clear picture of how the word is used.

Definitions are grouped together into sets of related meanings. The OED is a historical dictionary, so these sets are arranged chronologically according to the evidence of first usage. This makes it important for the OED to trace the earliest example of every meaning of a word.

• The Second Edition of the OED traced the word futuristic back as far as 1958, but recent research on the Internet has turned up an example from 1908.

Illustrating the definitions

Each definition in the revised OED is accompanied by a selection of the quotation evidence. This provides an illustration of the word being used in that particular sense, from its earliest recorded usage down to the most recent.