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Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

A Way with Words, a radio show and podcast about language and linguistics.

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Dictionary With Words Organized by Category, Not Alphabetically?
Guest
1
2010/01/15 - 6:26pm

Howdy everyone,

I was wondering if anybody knew of an electronic dictionary/thesaurus that was organized by category? The excellent Random House Webster's Word Menu sorts words into intuitive groups. Finding the word one desires is a first-rate experience; I would like having that ease of use on my computer.

Write Brothers, Inc produces a PC version of Word Menu but I have found it strangely sparse on definitions, compared to my text copy. Does anyone know of a great categorized dictionary--either online or downloadable? Even a simple searchable text file or PDF would be wonderful.

Any assistance is appreciated. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Jumpyfoot

Grant Barrett
San Diego, California
1532 Posts
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2
2010/01/18 - 1:38pm

Yeah, that's a problem, isn't it? Most lexical reference works that are sorted by category are thesauruses and every thesaurus I've ever used does a terrible job of providing enough meaning or context so that you can choose the right word.

If you have access to the Oxford English Dictionary online, you can do an advanced search by subject. That might get you a long way to where you want to go. In that vein, I usually do a full text search of OED because it brings out an immense amount of data and serendipity that I would've never otherwise enountered.

http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/advsearchform?side=B-D

Guest
3
2010/01/19 - 3:47am

Grant,

Using a full text/advanced search may be a passable option. Good idea. I don't have the OED online subscription but I do have the OED on a CD-ROM. Maybe that will suffice?

Thanks for taking the time to read my inquiry, everybody. If I happen to find a good electronic dictionary/thesaurus that is organized by category, I will post a link to it here.

Should any further suggestions come to mind, (from Grant or other forum members), I would be happy to know.

Be well.

Sincerely,
Jumpyfoot

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