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dictionary - 5 dictionary results

dic⋅tion⋅ar⋅y

  [dik-shuh-ner-ee]
Use dictionary in a Sentence
–noun, plural -ar⋅ies.
1. a book containing a selection of the words of a language, usually arranged alphabetically, giving information about their meanings, pronunciations, etymologies, inflected forms, etc., expressed in either the same or another language; lexicon; glossary: a dictionary of English; a Japanese-English dictionary.
2. a book giving information on particular subjects or on a particular class of words, names, or facts, usually arranged alphabetically: a biographical dictionary; a dictionary of mathematics.
3. Computers.
a. a list of codes, terms, keys, etc., and their meanings, used by a computer program or system.
b. a list of words used by a word-processing program as the standard against which to check the spelling of text entered.
Origin:
1520–30; < ML dictiōnārium, dictiōnārius < LL dictiōn- word (see diction ) + -ārium, -ārius -ary
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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dic·tion·ar·y   (dĭk'shə-něr'ē)   
n.   pl. dic·tion·ar·ies
  1. A reference book containing an alphabetical list of words, with information given for each word, usually including meaning, pronunciation, and etymology.
  2. A book listing the words of a language with translations into another language.
  3. A book listing words or other linguistic items in a particular category or subject with specialized information about them: a medical dictionary.
  4. Computer Science
    1. A list of words stored in machine-readable form for reference, as by spelling-checking software.
    2. An electronic spelling checker.

[Medieval Latin dictiōnārium, from Latin dictiō, dictiōn-, diction; see diction.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Dictionary

Dic"tion*a*ry\, n.; pl. Dictionaries. [Cf. F. dictionnaire. See Diction.]

1. A book containing the words of a language, arranged alphabetically, with explanations of their meanings; a lexicon; a vocabulary; a wordbook.

I applied myself to the perusal of our writers; and noting whatever might be of use to ascertain or illustrate any word or phrase, accumulated in time the materials of a dictionary. --Johnson.

2. Hence, a book containing the words belonging to any system or province of knowledge, arranged alphabetically; as, a dictionary of medicine or of botany; a biographical dictionary.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : dictionary
Spanish: diccionario,
German: das Wörterbuch,
Japanese: 辞書
More Translations »

dictionary 
1526, from M.L. dictionarium "collection of words and phrases," from L. dictionarius "of words," from dictio "word." Probably first Eng. use in title of a book was in Sir Thomas Elyot's "Latin Dictionary" (1538) though L. Dictionarius was so used from c.1225.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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dictionary
1. data dictionary.
2. associative array.
3. Free On-line Dictionary of Computing.

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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