Collecting the evidence

A lexicographer must analyse how a word is used in order to write a definition.

The authority of the OED depends on being able to see as large a range of examples of usage as possible. Because it is a historical dictionary, this range must cover the entire history of each word in English, from its earliest recorded usage down to the most recent. We can then form a picture of the development and gradual shift in meaning of a word.

The collection of evidence is therefore crucial to the completeness and accuracy of the OED. We go about this in a number of ways.

The reading programmes

Before the days of computer databases and search engines, the only way of finding a printed example of a word in use was to read as widely as possible. The first reading programme was well established long before the OED ever saw print.

The OED still uses targeted reading programmes as a major source of evidence.

The UK and North American Reading Programmes, which collect millions of quotations from all over the English-speaking world, are the principal sources of evidence for words used in current English.

Readers use marker pens to highlight words in texts such as novels, poetry, magazines, newspapers, scientific journals, television scripts, etc., mainly from the 19th and 20th centuries. The words, with a line or two of surrounding context, are then keyed as quotations into a database called Incomings, which is used by all Oxford dictionaries.

The Historical Reading Programme examines older texts for words not previously recorded in the OED, and for earlier examples of words already in the Dictionary. Its readers mainly look at texts not available to the editors of the original OED, such as diaries and collections of letters. They write out slips by hand in the traditional way, since many of the texts are rare and only available in libraries.

In addition, separate reading programmes are run by the Australian National Dictionary, the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, and the Dictionary of South African English. These and other regional dictionaries provide the authority behind the coverage of world English in the OED.

Appeals

The reading programmes are broad in scope, but they cannot provide us with all the information we need. Contributions from members of the public are a valued part of the process of revising the OED, providing quotations and other information which help us to improve the dictionary.

Anybody can contribute quotations to the OED, either in writing or online. There are three main types of quotation which are of particular interest:

1. An antedating, i.e. a quotation demonstrating that a word or meaning was in use earlier than had been previously thought
2. A postdating, i.e. an example of a word or meaning written more recently than the latest example in our records
3. A quotation illustrating a new word or meaning

An appeal, listing words and meanings for which we particularly need help, is published in each issue of OED News. A cumulative list of appeals is also available.

Databases

The reading programmes are ideal for picking up new words and meanings which have entered the language from all over the world.

To get a full picture of the meaning of a word, we then search for further information and examples using our electronic resources.

Historical dictionaries

Information on the history of long-established English words is provided by historical dictionaries such as the Middle English Dictionary and the Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue. The early quotations included in these dictionaries, and their editors' analysis, are invaluable resources for the revision of the OED.

Examining the evidence

Each year, thousands of new words are picked up by the reading programme or sent in by the public. This is far too high a number for them all to be included in the OED, because of the amount of time it takes to research and write an entry for each new word.

Based on the evidence, a choice has to be made as to which of them to include. The evidence then also determines how the definition is written.