Editing Chambers Dictionary

{{short description|English language dictionary first published in 1872}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2017}}
{{Italic title}}
'''''The Chambers Dictionary''''' was first published by [[William Chambers (publisher)|William]] and [[Robert Chambers (publisher born 1802)|Robert Chambers]] as '''''Chambers's English Dictionary''''' in 1872. It was an expanded version of ''Chambers's Etymological Dictionary'' of 1867, compiled by James Donald. A second edition came out in 1898, and was followed in 1901 by a new compact edition called '''''Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary'''''.<ref>''Words, Wit and Wisdom: 100 Years of the Chambers Dictionary'', compiled by Ian Brookes, Jamie Nathan and Hazel Norris. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2001. {{ISBN|0-550-10015-6}}.</ref> 

The dictionary is widely used by British [[crossword]] solvers and setters, and by ''[[Scrabble]]'' players (though it is no longer the official ''Scrabble'' dictionary). It contains many more [[dialect]]al, archaic, unconventional and eccentric words than its rivals, and is noted for its occasional wryly humorous definitions. Examples of such definitions include those for ''[[éclair (pastry)|éclair]]'' ("a cake, long in shape but short in duration") and ''middle-aged'' ("between youth and old age, variously reckoned to suit the reckoner").<ref>{{cite book
|last=Manley
|first=Don
|author-link=Don Manley
|title=Chambers Crossword Manual
|orig-year=1986
|edition=Third
|year=2001
|publisher=Chambers
|location=Edinburgh
|isbn=0-550-12006-8
|page=91
|chapter=The Basic Advanced Cryptic Crossword
|quote=If you pause to read ''Chambers'' while solving a puzzle, you may also find some quirky definitions in the best Johnsonian tradition: try ECLAIR and MIDDLE AGE for example.
}}</ref> These jocular definitions were removed by the publisher in the 1970s, but many of them were reinstated in 1983 because of the affection in which they were held by readers.

The twelfth edition of ''The Chambers Dictionary'' was published in August 2011 by [[Chambers Harrap|Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd]] and runs to 1936 pages with 62,500 main entries.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kaminski|first1=Mariusz|title=A History of the Chambers Dictionary|date=2013|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|pages=95–96|isbn=9783110312737 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VaHoBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA95}}</ref> This edition is available for mobile use as an iPhone, iPad, or Android app. That has been followed by the thirteenth edition published in 2014. Also on sale is the smaller ''21st Century Dictionary'' of 1664 pages, where "the focus is on the English that people use today, and definitions are given in straightforward, accessible language". This dictionary can be accessed for free [https://chambers.co.uk/search/ online].

==''Scrabble''==
{{see also|SOWPODS}}
In an agreement with [[Mattel]]'s predecessor, [[J. W. Spear & Sons]], the ''Chambers Dictionary'' was, for several decades, the official source of words for the book ''Official Scrabble Words'' (OSW), a lexicon of all words and inflections playable in tournament ''[[Scrabble]]'' within the UK and other countries such as New Zealand and Australia. In 2005, Mattel changed the source dictionary to ''[[Collins English Dictionary]]''.

==See also==
*''[[Chambers's Encyclopaedia]]''
*[[William Chambers (publisher)|William Chambers]]
*[[Robert Chambers (journalist)|Robert Chambers]]
*[[Chambers Harrap|Chambers Harrap Publishers]]

==References==
<references />

==External links==
*[https://chambers.co.uk/book/the-chambers-dictionary/ Official website]
*[http://www.chambersharrap.co.uk/ Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd]
*''Chambers's Etymological Dictionary of the English Language''
**1st edition, impressions: [https://books.google.com/books?id=hSRTAAAAcAAJ 1867], [https://books.google.com/books?id=oyMFAQAAIAAJ 1872], [https://books.google.com/books?id=2yRnAAAAcAAJ 1874], [https://books.google.com/books?id=3Rg_AQAAMAAJ 1875], [https://books.google.com/books?id=QKkVAAAAYAAJ 1876].
**2nd edition, impressions: [https://archive.org/details/chamberssetymolo00findrich 1900]
*''Chambers's English Dictionary'' ([https://books.google.com/books?id=UqMRAAAAIAAJ 1872])
*''Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary''
** A [https://archive.org/details/chambersstwentie00daviiala 1903] impression
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20161225042520/http://www.crosswordman.com/wgbooks.html#chambers ''Chambers Dictionary'' History and Trivia] including some of the famous "Chambersisms"

{{Dictionaries of English}}
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[[Category:1867 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:1872 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:1901 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:English dictionaries]]
[[Category:Scottish non-fiction literature]]
[[Category:1872 establishments in Scotland]]
[[Category:History of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Culture in Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Online English dictionaries]]