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Aug
10th

Vocabulary Resources: How to Use a Dictionary

Categories: Vocabulary for Success, Vocabulary Improvement Tips | Tags:

A good dictionary is a valuable tool that will help you quickly learn almost everything about a word: how to pronounce it, where it comes from, how it’s used, and what other words are related to it. The Ultimate Vocabulary system’s Word Discover™ program contains a Definitions Database of over 140,000 useful and powerful vocabulary words, and all the information you need to successfully add those words to your own vocabulary and use them correctly.

Most good on-line and paper dictionaries share at least half a dozen separate features. We’ve taken an excerpt from the on-line dictionary at Dictionary.com for the entry “definition” to show you what to look for, and what some of the features mean.

1 The word is spelled out, showing how it breaks into syllables.
2 An audio button is provided, giving you the correct pronunciation of the word.
3 The correct (standard) pronunciation is spelled out phonetically.
4 The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a universally-used set of symbols to represent the sounds that make up the word. This is useful for people whose native language does not necessarily contain the letters and/or sounds in English.
5 The dictionary will indicate whether the word is a noun, a verb, or another part of speech.
6 The definitions of the word are listed with the most common one(s) at the top, and the specialized, archaic, or obsolete definitions listed at the bottom.
7 Examples of how to use the word in context are an important part of a good dictionary. Ultimate Vocabulary gives you 50 different examples for each word, but most dictionaries will provide at least one.
8 The etymology (history) of a word will help you better understand its meaning and how to use it.
9 Learning the words that are related to the main word give you more information and connect the word in your mind to other ideas and concepts. Related words include derived words, synonyms and antonyms.

As you can see from this example, the sample sentences are not shown (though there is a link to them) and the entry provides no synonyms or antonyms. If you’re using the Ultimate Vocabulary system, you’ll be able to click over to those features, and also use the “My Word Notes” feature to add your own comments, example sentences, and questions to research. If you’re using a paper or other on-line dictionary, add those things to your journal or word list notebook. You’ll be on the way to creating your own reference for future use.

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