Discover the story of English More than 600,000 words, over a thousand years


	Discover the story of English More than 600,000 words, over a thousand years Welcome to OED Online. If you or your library subscribe, dive straight in to the riches of the English language. If not, click on the images below to learn more about the OED, see What's new, or take a look at Aspects of English, our language feature section. Previous Next More about the OED » Print edition » Chief Editor John Simpson to retire Oxford University Press has announced that John Simpson, Chief Editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, will retire from his post in October 2013. John, whose pioneering leadership has seen the OED embrace the Internet, joined the OED editorial staff in 1976, and was appointed Chief Editor in 1993. June 2013 update What's new: Learn more about the latest revisions and new words from the Chief Editor of the OED, John Simpson, and take a closer look at the new words and senses added in this update. New article: Read about the results of our appeal for earlier evidence for Earl Grey tea. More Aspects of English Videos: Oxford Dictionaries Helpful resources Search the OED's information pages Help with using OED Online Lookup tools Take a tour For librarians For students and teachers Abbreviations used in the OED Key to the pronunciation Key to symbols and other conventions More from Oxford Oxford Dictionaries Online Oxford Language Dictionaries Online Oxford Reference Oxford Dictionary of National Biography		Already a subscriber? Sign In » Does my library subscribe? Subscribe to the OED Online access to the full OED, and now incorporating the Historical Thesaurus of the OED. Sign up » Word of the day big kahuna, n. 1886 In Hawaii: a prominent priest, sage, or healer. Cf. kahunaa. rare. Sign up for word of the day » Recently published headborough, n. boat-header, n. handfaster, n. handbreadth, n. Follow the OED Online on