Macmillan School Dictionary

Perfect for school

The Macmillan School Dictionary is completely relevant to the needs of young people who are studying their subjects through the medium of English and preparing for school exams. It explains – clearly and accurately – the vocabulary needed for successful study in any of the key school subjects. At every stage, experienced teachers, textbook writers, and syllabus designers have contributed their expertise, giving us a clear idea of what you really need to know at this level. In addition, we have used state-of-the-art software to analyse the corpora, so that we have a scientific basis for selecting the words to include and for deciding how much information is needed about each word.

• Curriculum words in the dictionary are clearly identified in red using one of 20 subject labels. Look at a sample from part of a dictionary page.
• Over 100 pictures and diagrams throughout the dictionary illustrate everything from flora and fauna to natural or scientific processes.
• Over 20 full-page illustrations, many in two colours, present and reinforce topic vocabulary. Click to see a full-page illustration.
• The Study Skills section provides extra tips for school work and includes information on:
• Dealing with Data
• Experiments and Projects
• Capital Letters and Punctuation
• Composition Skills
• Information and Communication Technology
• Revision and Examination Skills

Click to see pages from the Study Skills section.

Language help

The Macmillan School Dictionary retains the award-winning features of the Macmillan English Dictionary in the language help it provides:

• 200 usage notes help you to develop your vocabulary and avoid common errors in English.
• Menus for entries with five or more meanings make it easier to find the specific meaning you are looking for.
• All the definitions are written using a carefully selected vocabulary of 3,000 words so that they are easy to understand.
• Example sentences in italics show you how a word is used in context.
  Grammar boxes give extra information to help you learn more about how a word is used.
• ‘Word family’ boxes bring together groups of words that are formed from the same ‘base word’.
• ‘Build your vocabulary’ boxes bring together words that are related to a particular subject, or suggest more specific alternatives for very common words.
• Entries also provide information on collocation and syntax, pronunciation, stress marks, style and British/American English differences.

Click to see a sample spread showing these features.

CD-ROM

A CD-ROM is available to accompany the Macmillan School Dictionary. This combines the full text of the Macmillan Essential Dictionary, with pronunciation practice, activities, illustrations, sound effects, photographs, animations and useful search facilities. In addition, users can access a fully searchable compendium of curriculum vocabulary online. Access details are provided with the CD-ROM.