Editing Oxford English Dictionary (section)

{{Short description|Historical dictionary of the English language}}
{{About|the multi-volume historical dictionary|other dictionaries published by Oxford University Press|Oxford dictionary (disambiguation){{!}}Oxford dictionary}}
{{Redirect|OED}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Use British English Oxford spelling|date=April 2020}} 
{{Infobox book series
| name = ''Oxford English Dictionary''
| image = OED2 volumes.jpg
| image_caption = Seven of the twenty volumes of the printed second edition of ''The Oxford English Dictionary'' (1989)
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| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
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| publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]
| pub_date = {{ubl|1884–1928 (first edition)|1989 (second edition)|Third edition in preparation<ref name=Dickson>{{cite news |first=Andrew |last=Dickson |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/feb/23/oxford-english-dictionary-can-worlds-biggest-dictionary-survive-internet |title=Inside the OED: can the world's biggest dictionary survive the internet? |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=23 February 2018 |access-date=13 December 2020 |archive-date=16 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116234943/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/feb/23/oxford-english-dictionary-can-worlds-biggest-dictionary-survive-internet |url-status=live}}</ref>}}
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The '''''Oxford English Dictionary''''' ('''''OED''''') is the principal [[historical dictionary]] of the [[English language]], published by [[Oxford University Press]] (OUP), a [[University of Oxford]] publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first edition in 1884, traces the historical development of the English language, providing a comprehensive resource to scholars and academic researchers, and provides ongoing descriptions of English language usage in its variations around the world.<ref>{{cite web |title=About |website=Oxford English Dictionary |url=https://public.oed.com/about/ |access-date=13 November 2021 |quote=As a historical dictionary, the OED is very different from those of current English, in which the focus is on present-day meanings. |archive-date=21 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190821000818/https://public.oed.com/about/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1857, work first began on the dictionary, though the first edition was not published until 1884. It began to be published in unbound [[Serial (literature)|fascicles]] as work continued on the project, under the name of ''A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles; Founded Mainly on the Materials Collected by The Philological Society''. In 1895, the title ''The Oxford English Dictionary'' was first used unofficially on the covers of the series, and in 1928 the full dictionary was republished in 10 bound volumes.

In 1933, the title ''The Oxford English Dictionary'' fully replaced the former name in all occurrences in its reprinting as 12 volumes with a one-volume supplement. More supplements came over the years until 1989, when the second edition was published, comprising 21,728 pages in 20 volumes.<ref name=Dickson /> Since 2000, compilation of a third edition of the dictionary has been underway, approximately half of which was complete by 2018.<ref name=Dickson />

In 1988, the first electronic version of the dictionary was made available, and the online version has been available since 2000. By April 2014, it was receiving over two million visits per month. The third edition of the dictionary is expected to be available exclusively in electronic form; the CEO of OUP has stated that it is unlikely that it will ever be printed.<ref name=Dickson /><ref>{{cite news |last=Alastair Jamieson |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/7970391/Oxford-English-Dictionary-will-not-be-printed-again.html |title=Oxford English Dictionary 'will not be printed again' |access-date=11 August 2012 |first=Alastair |website=The Telegraph |date=29 August 2010 |archive-date=31 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190831072218/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/7970391/Oxford-English-Dictionary-will-not-be-printed-again.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Simpson>{{Cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/10777079/RIP-for-OED-as-worlds-finest-dictionary-goes-out-of-print.html |title=RIP for OED as world's finest dictionary goes out of print |last=Flanagan |first=Padraic |date=20 April 2014 |work=The Telegraph |access-date=8 June 2014 |archive-date=20 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190820160048/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/10777079/RIP-for-OED-as-worlds-finest-dictionary-goes-out-of-print.html |url-status=live}}</ref>