Using a Dictionary

The Best Source of Words There are many ways that a person can find out about words. The best known way to find out about a word is to use a dictionary. What are some of the things you find out when you use a dictionary?
Why do we use a Dictionary??
Spelling. Yes! What if you don't know how to spell a word and you have to look it up?? That always made me mad. I ask how to spell a word, and the teacher or my mother says, "Look it up!!" Luckily words are listed in alphabetical order. So, if we go to the Reference Section of the library or the shelf where we keep our dictionary at home, we can find out how to spell it. What else is it good for???? Here you will find: What you can find in a dictionary. How to use a dictionary and dictionary sites. Some things to do with a dictionary. Mores sources related to dictionaries. and A quiz to check what you learned.

If you like to make a good spelling guess, there is a website where you can find words and definitions using any parts of the words. Go to allwords.com. Also, it is a good place to go after you have checked out our Root Words page. Tolkien liked to study where words came from and this will help you see how some words are connected. If you learn some of the roots, or origins, of words, you can make good guesses about what words might mean. Knowing meanings of some root words and knowing prefixes and suffixes will help you make good guesses about words.

What you can find in a dictionary. (Read this then try our quiz.)

There are numerous things a person can find in a dictionary. The first and obvious things in a dictionary that people think of are definitions. The words are all in alphabetic or A-B-C order. Words sometimes have more than one definition.
There is also other information about words such as their function or part of speech, their pronunciation, as well as origins, or roots, of words. WWWebster Dictionary has examples of this information with their entries on the web.
Other useful information can be found in the dictionary as well. Information such as English to metric conversion tables, maps, Presidents of the United States, explanations of common symbols, and most important "How to Use a Dictionary" can be found. Some of our favorite Dictionary Sites are listed below. A fun thing to do might be to open a dictionary and see what kind of information you can find.
Did you know there are many kinds of dictionaries? Talk to your librarian. You could have a contest to see how many you can find.

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How to Use a Dictionary First, think of the word to look up. Then open the dictionary to as close to the first letter or two of the word as possible. Then either turn back or forward to find the word. To help the search, dictionaries have guide words to help. Guide words are at the top of each page. The first guide word is the first word on a page, and the second guide word at the top of the page is the last word on the page. Using the guidewords, you should find the word you a looking for easily. It will be between the words.

Dictionary Sites Lists of dictionaries.

Different Kinds of Dictionaries are below.

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Some Things To Do with Dictionaries 1. Make a Word Tree 2. Discover Stories of Trees

1. One of the best known resources for definitions is Webster's Dictionary. In addition to spelling, a person can also find out about how a word may have been made. When you look up a word, it gives you clues about where a word may have come from. See if you can find the root of a word, then look up that part of the word and see what other words have the same roots. Make a root word tree.

A Fun Activity--Make a Word Tree Start with a Root Using ALLwords.com Finding Definitions using parts of words Example: using... -AUD-

(These words and definitions came from allwords.com.(revised) at http://www.allwords.com/query.asp)

Word Definition

                 applaud                     to show approval by clapping.
                 audible                      loud enough to be heard.
                 audience                   group of people watching a performance, eg of a play, concert, etc.
                 audience                   a formal interview with an important person ; an "audience with the President".
                 audition                     a test of the suitability of an actor, singer, musician, etc for part
                auditorium                 auditoriums or auditoria are the part of a room where the audience sits.
                  fraud                        an act of deliberate deception, with the intention of gaining some benefit.
                fraudulent                   involving deliberate deception; intended to deceive Example: a fraudulent act

-aud- comes form audere which in Latin means to hear. In everyone of these words, something has to be heard. This is what a tree could look like:

                  applaud----------\                       audition                             auditorium
                                      \                                   |                                              /       /
                                      \                                  |                                            /       /
                      inaudible                          audible                                     /       /

                                 audience--------------------------------   auditory

                                                              |               |
                                                              |
                                                               -aud-

Challenge: make a tree of your own!! See the Roots Page to get started.   Watch your words grow!!

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Different Kinds of Dictionaries Help You Find Different Kinds of Things About Words Use These To Do Word Quests..

Wordsmith English Dictionary and Thesaurus
http://www.lightlink.com/bobp/wedt/
If you're looking for "another word". Stop using the same words over and over.

A Collection of Dictionaries
http://elza.lpi.ac.ru/
Different kinds of dictionaries for different reasons.
Lexical FreeNet
http://www.link.cs.cmu.edu/lexfn/
This program allows you to search for rhymes and relationships between words and concepts that might never have occurred to you. You can think of words in different ways.
Little Explorers
http://www.LittleExplorers.com/
Links to words in Spanish, French, Portuguese, German to English

Dictionary of American Regional English
http://polyglot.lss.wisc.edu/dare/dare.html
We say soda; they say pop; others say tonic.....What????

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Do you think you know everything there is to know about a dictonary?
Well, if you do, then try the dictionary quiz

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