Could you guys recommend me any old English dictionary?
Hello guys, I am not an English native speaker. But I do love English and my intention was learning English to read my favorite classical author. Could you guys recommend me any old English dictionary? I want to start #JaneEyre as soon as possible. ?
Whatever you do, buy an older version of an English dictionary as it will be likely to contain older words – more familiar to, and likely used, by the author.
Thank you ?
I will try it.
I choose online ones for my French practice, but mainly because I’m cheap 🙂
Yeah… maybe I need to make a further search. ?
Concise Oxford English Dictionary is good.
Thanks a lot
Here are some older English dictionaries available online.
https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.94809 (Oxford, 1911)
https://archive.org/details/conciseoxforddic00fowlrich (Oxford, 1912)
https://archive.org/details/arrowsmithsdict00arrogoog (Arrowsmith’s, 1884)
The last one is of Bristol’s vernacular – so it may not match Jane Eyre perfectly.
Thank you so so much ❤
Please be aware that it’s hard to find dictionaries from the time Jane Eyre was published (1847). Oxford’s first edition wasn’t published until 1884.
Also, if you have a reddit account. I would recommend the subreddit r/EnglishLearning/
Glad to know! I tried once and now I am going to try again?
Concise Oxford Dictionary and Oxford’s Advanced Learner’s Dictionary are both wonderful. One more dictionary that you can try is the Chamber’s Dictionary. It is strong with respect to words which are used in classic books. Happy dictionary shopping!
Thanks a lot! ?
The Oxford Englis Dictionary or the OED as we call it is probably what you want. It gives tons of info on the origin of each word so you’d be able to see what words used to mean if the definition has changed
Thanks for recommendation ?
Way To Go!!!
Yeah!
Great Choice!!!
Yeah… I’ve seen the movie and read some short stories based on the book. Now I gonna start it! ??
That Is Awesome Of You!!! Good Luck!!! You Can Do It!!
@Jim thanks a lot ! ??
That’s awesome! I love Jane Eyre, too.
I’ve seen the movie. I am sure I will have a great time reading ??
There aren’t too many words in Jane Eyre that are obsolete, I’d think any dictionary would do.
Maybe I am not use to them. I felt a great difficult in the first few pages. I got confused.
There are words that aren’t so commonly used these days, but they aren’t obsolete.
Hmm… got it. Thanks for the information.
the best dictionary in my opinion is the on-line Farlex, the free dictionary. I work with dictionaries and I’ve been through them all. Farlex disambiguates and rephrases the word multiple times so that you can settle on a meaning that cuts closest to your bone.
Thanks a lot! I am so happy that I found good recommendation! I will look for it!
sorry, that should be rephrases the meaning of the word
I think your written English is great!
Thanks so much for the kind words?