Book of the Month – Macmillan English Dictionary (New Edition)
Macmillan.
EL Gazette - June 2007
Pete Sharma
A new version of a major dictionary is an important event, and the launch of the second edition of the Macmillan English Dictionary does not disappoint. There are more of the features that made the first dictionary so popular: more on collocation, more on metaphor and the retention of the red star system to distinguish core words and less frequent words. A new section ‘Improve your writing skills’ has benefited from the dictionary-maker’s cooperation with the Centre for English Corpus Linguistics, affording new insights into the written language. New study pages offer useful essays on aspects of language such as lexical priming.
The accompanying CD-ROM has some outstanding features a thesaurus function, and advanced search facility for specialist lexis and the chance for learners to incorporate their own annotations into the actual electronic dictionary. The disc also has interesting weblinks.
Which dictionary students prefer, and which you recommend, depends on a range of factors: there is certainly a lot here to ensure that the MED will be a popular choice for many. Outstanding.