The Free Library of Philadelphia is excited to offer access to the Oxford English Dictionary Online, a historical dictionary and thesaurus providing everything you need for a deep dive into the complex histories of over 500,000 words. In some cases, the information provided by OED Online goes back 1,000 years to the time of Old English.

Far more than just a list of words, OED Online provides a variety of educational and entertaining content about the English language and literature.

Educators will find a variety of teaching resources, including lesson plans, videos, classroom posters, academic case studies, and fun quizzes on etymology or mythbusting the OED.

The Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien famously worked for the OED early in his career, and OED Online provides a brief history of his employment as well as the eventual inclusion in the dictionary of words like "hobbit" and "mithril."

Rather than limiting itself to British English, OED Online includes a world Englishes hub featuring global variations of the English language. This includes information about the Oxford Dictionary of African American English, a joint project between Oxford University Press and Harvard University, headed by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. The launch of the world Englishes hub coincided with the OED’s panel discussion on language prejudice and the documentation of minoritized varieties of English.

Please enjoy exploring this resource.

Access the Oxford English Dictionary Online from the Free Library’s database page and sign up for a free account using your library card number and PIN.