About Macmillan Dictionary
Macmillan Dictionary: the beginning
The award-winning Macmillan English Dictionary was first published in 2002 in both British English and American English. Crafted by teams of lexicographers in Great Britain and the United States, it had as its source a corpus, a database containing millions of examples of English as used around the world. Extensive analysis of this corpus of real spoken and written text, using state-of-the-art technology, allowed the dictionary writers to reveal fresh information about how and when words are used.
In 2007, the 2nd Edition of Macmillan English Dictionary was published with carefully researched content for learners of English around the world. An example of this content is the information provided in the so-called 'Get it right!' boxes.
Macmillan Dictionary goes online
In 2009, the online version of the dictionary – MacmillanDictionary.com – was launched. This included a thesaurus, fully integrated into the entries. Since its launch Macmillan Dictionary has been frequently updated and contains a crowdsourced component called the Open Dictionary, which allows users to be part of the dictionary-writing enterprise and submit words and keep Macmillan Dictionary up to date.
Macmillan Dictionary: unique features
Macmillan Dictionary offers unique treatment of metaphor, showing how many ordinary familiar words and phrases have metaphorical meanings, although we do not usually realise this when we use them.
Since its launch Macmillan Dictionary has grown substantially and now includes dedicated section for English language resources, language quizzes, as well as videos about grammar, vocabulary and English around the world.
Since the 10th anniversary of Macmillan Dictionary's launch we also provide an extended thesaurus on the dictionary's sister site Macmillan Thesaurus, with fully searchable content including synonyms, antonyms and related words. A unique thesaurus with a difference, designed also with learners of English in mind.
Macmillan Dictionary also incorporates the Macmillan Collocations Dictionary. You can access a helpful selection of collocations from within dictionary entries or browse the collocations content. This page tells you about the features of the collocations content in more detail.
Macmillan Dictionary is the perfect free online dictionary – a one-stop reference for English speakers, learners and language enthusiasts around the world.
Macmillan Dictionary community
Read a selection of comments by users of the dictionary to find out about its most popular features and join our social media community today!
www.macmillandictionary.com is powered by
