Tag Archive: Wordnik
When it comes to finding words, clarifying meaning, locating synonyms or checking spelling, the word wide web is hard to beat. The probably is that the complete Oxford English Dictionary, widely viewed as the definitive reference, will eventually only exist in an online format and not be printed again. While the OED is a subscription service, there is no need to spend money to access the English language on the net.
There are very good traditional dictionaries online like Macmillan or Merriam-Webster and for referencing slang or latest buzz words/expressions or for just plain entertainment value the Urban dictionary is highly recommended.
My current favourite reference source is that provided by Wordnik. Studies of language corpora have become easier in the digital age and makes it easier to show words in a real-world context. This is what Wordnik provides in an intelligent but not in a stuffily academic manner.
A great part of the clean, user-friendly site is the community section which, as I write, includes “971,860,842 example sentences, 6,748,515 unique words, 227,443 comments, 171,845 tags, 121,339 pronunciations, 67,721 favorites and 967,570 words in 31,174 lists created by 74,531 Wordniks”. These statistics will be out of date by the time you read this as the numbers are added to by registered users.
It is a site that emphasises that language is a living, breathing concept that is forever shifting and evolving.
I am still a relative newcomer to the community but I have recently created a list of words describing singing voices which I, and other users, can add to whenever a new word takes my fancy.
As the famous Readers Digest feature always said : “It pays to increase your word power”.
