Ask HN: What dictionary do you use as your source of truth?

7 points by drBonkers 4y ago ↗ HN

I've been using Webster [1]. I imagine there are better options.

[1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/

7 comments

[ 4.3 ms ] story [ 27.2 ms ] thread

kleer001 4y ago ↗

"Source of truth"? What the heck does that mean? Truth for whom?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leX541Dr2rU

Dictionaries aren't for policing language.

They describe how people use language, not the best and only way to use language.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLgn3geod9Q

jfax 4y ago ↗

I do not view dictionaries as a source of truth, and generally I don't accept a prescriptivist view onlanguage. Dictionaries are for referencing. Reading Xah Lee's reviews of dictionaries made me understand that different ones have different purposes.

http://xahlee.org/wordy/musing/dict_AHD_vs_NOAD.html

http://xahlee.org/wordy/musing/dict_review.html

http://xahlee.org/wordy/words/dictionary_tools.html

klondike_ 4y ago ↗

Webster's 1913

https://www.websters1913.com/

jet_32951 4y ago ↗

Oxford English Dictionary.

atsaloli 4y ago ↗

I like onelook.com -- it's a dictionary gateway site. It searches both general English and specialist dictionaries.

[dead] Maclennan 4y ago ↗

[flagged]

0x54MUR41 4y ago ↗

I usually use The Free Dictionary by Farlex.

https://www.thefreedictionary.com/