Author Description

The largest single-volume dictionary in print celebrates the extraordinary breadth and changing nature of world English, with more than 100,000 entries and definitions added, and a total of 722,000 words, meanings, and phrases The dictionary is drawn from the Collins Corpus, the largest word-gathering database in the world with more than 4.5 billion words, and combined with a selection of emerging words submitted by the public via the award-winning collinsdictionary.com. The Collins English Dictionary is a democratic snapshot of real English as it is spoken today around the world. All will be drawn in by evolving definitions and new, rare, and quirky words. Explore the ever-changing landscape of the English language with award-winning author Mark Forsyth’s insights, in which he casts an analytical eye over the latest fields and shifts in meaning that the dictionary reflects. In an innovation that will delight word gamers and crossword solvers, the Collins English Dictionary also now uniquely includes words previously only found in the official Scrabble™ word list. Always at the cutting edge of language change, Collins offers you the very best of new and emerging words, (as well as those that haven’t quite made it yet, the ones we all love—and those we love to hate). Word enthusiast Lucy Mangan shares her passion and pique as she delves into these murky waters, taking you on a journey into the peculiarities of the new words’ creation process. The Times said that “the Collins English Dictionary is a book to be treasured, no home should be without one.” This 12th edition is beautifully designed and printed, and despite the increase in words, it is now lighter and easier to hold.