2001-09-24 - ISBN: 0471383724 - 288 pages - PDF - 1,1 MB
Directed at the everyday speaker of American English, this dictionary aims to define English words with foreign sources surely a daunting task, since many English words have come from other languages. Varchaver and Moore (coauthors of The Dictionary of the Performing Arts) tried to limit the number of entries by including only those recently adopted, but as a result the word choice seems arbitrary. Entries include pronunciation, definition, and often a sample sentence to illustrate use. However, only about a quarter of the words have sample sentences, and many of the less familiar words were not among them. In addition, many of the samples are quite generic, and some include a citation noting the source, which seems unnecessary since this is not an academic book. This work may be of interest to the "browser" of the title and of limited assistance to someone seeking a simple etymology, but the serious scholar or lover of the language will find it lightweight. Manya Chylinski, Ernst . Young Ctr., for Business Knowledge, Boston
