Book related, choice for dictionary and theasarus

9 years ago

My two middle-school nephews need a really good dictionary and thesaurus. I'd lilke to give them ones that can take them through high school and then into college.

Yes, they have access to the Internet, but I want them to have real dictionaries and thesauruses with paper and ink and heft and a sense of "learning." I love dictionaries, and all books. I try to expose all the kiddos to them, too.

For myself I have a 15-year old (?) huge Webster's NewWorld Dictionary, Third World Edition, and a Roget's Thesaurus.

Which dictionary and thesaurus would you suggest for these middle-school to starting college boys? I'd rather err on the side of too-much info rather than too-little.

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Comments (7)

carolyn_ky
9 years ago
My dictionary is Webster's Collegiate, 7th Edition, so you can tell I've had it a long time--since I was 16-- and I still use it.

I don't see how you can beat Roget's for a thesaurus.
sheriz6
9 years ago
My only suggestion would be that you select paperbacks vs. hardcovers for ease of use and portability. Kids do like to take the path of least resistance :) I still have my Websters Collegiate Dictionary (9th edition - given to me at my first "real" writing job) and a worn-to-pieces paperback Rogets (vintage 1970-something), both of which I still use.

I don't want to discourage you at all because I totally agree with your position on books vs. the internet, but I can tell you that my kids (15 and 19) have never opened either the dictionary or the thesaurus I gave them, for them it's all online. Sad, really!
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woodnymph2_gw
9 years ago
I still use my old Websters, and love it.
rosefolly
9 years ago
I recommend a thesaurus that is organized by meaning rather than one that is presented in dictionary form. Yes, the dictionary kind has no learning curve, but the kind that is organized by meaning has so much richer a value.

Roget's comes in both forms.
kathy_t
9 years ago
A friend gave me the Microsoft Encarta Dictionary as a gift a few years ago. Although he chose it for it's slightly larger print, it has a distinctly modern bent with less erudite language and current celebrities among its definitions. I like it a lot and keep it next to my reading chair. I frequently get distracted by entries and pictures (very good pictures) that lie nearby the word I was looking up. That sort of browsing is the main thing I miss in an online dictionary, by the way.
yoyobon_gw
9 years ago
Thanks , Roget, for your handy Thesaurus,
Mundane words most certainly bore us.
By perusing your book,
Our words make us look
Erudite and then friends shall deplore us !

......by Yvonne
kathy_t
9 years ago
Yvonne - Thanks for smile! (My mouse started searching for the "Like" button.)

Book related, choice for dictionary and theasarus

Comments (7)

carolyn_ky

sheriz6

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