Ignore that man behind the curtain. When he says "currently under heavy construction", what he really means is that he hasn't touched this page in over two years and can't find the motivation to move a brick, much less build a wall. - 2/10/04
This is currently under heavy construction. Things may move around but they'll still be here somewhere unless I can no longer find them on the web. My main goal in this version is to remove the artificial distinction I've made between glossaries, dictionaries and encyclopedias. I'm throwing them all together and distinguishing via subject categories, or at least attempting to do so without bollixing things up too much.
An annotated listing of dictionaries, glossaries and encyclopedias that have some sort of version online or, if you will, a glossary of glossaries. All suggestions for additions are welcome and I really can't think of any reason why I wouldn't add anything new as long as it resembles a glossary, dictionary or encyclopedia, i.e. if I discriminate it'll be on the basis of form and most definitely not on the basis of content. Well, I might be prone to not list many more glossaries etc. of computer terms as we've got those coming out of our wazoo as it is.
I've made some attempt at categorization that, as is inevitable with all such attempts, ends up somewhere between completely arbitrary and meticulously exact - hopefully closer to the latter extreme.
If you feel the need to copy the thing wholesale then do be a decent enough sort to reference or acknowledge the original source if only to allow those perusing your version access to newer entries you may not have. In my most recent updating I've found four other sites that've obviously borrowed the whole thing without attribution. That is just not right.
And, by the way, if you find a dead link then feel free to drop me a line about it. Feel even more free to find out where it went and then drop me a line about it.
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This section was last updated on Nov. 29, 1999.
"An easy reference for anyone involved in or simply interested in the built environment."
"Technology, architecture, civil, structural, forensic, mechanical, pavement and materials engineering, roofing, and masonry with elements of testing and quality science. Mostly American English/French/Romanian."
"In this dictionary I have attempted to provide a text which explains many of terms associated with fortifications which were used between the Iron Age and the 18th century. There are a great number of texts on the subject of castles and other fortifications of the period stated but few, if any, modern texts to my knowledge which specifically explain the terminology used to describe them."
Definitions of various biological terms broken up into separate sections for phylogenetics, geology, biochemistry, cell biology, ecology, life history, zoology, and botany.
"The nomenclature of bookbinding, its offshoots and more recent progeny, has not, at least insofar as the present writers have been able to determine, been presented in a comprehensive dictionary, although various aspects of the book and its production have been explored in dictionary form, sometimes superlatively, as in the American Paper and Pulp Association's `Dictionary of Paper' and John Carter's `A B C for Book Collectors'. The authors of this volume hope that it will help fill a considerable gap in the literature of conservation, one that has for some time been all too evident."
"ODLIS is designed to be a hypertext reference resource for library and information science professionals, university students and faculty, and users of all types of libraries. The primary criterion for including a new term is whether a librarian or other information professional might reasonably be expected to encounter it at some point in his (or her) career, or be required to know its meaning in the course of executing his or her responsibilities as a librarian. The vocabulary of publishing, printing, book history, literature, and computer science has been included when, in the author's judgment, a definition might prove helpful, not only to library and information professionals, but also to laypersons."
"This glossary of terms associated with the typesetting and printing industries was put together as a series of articles in a newsletter called "Desktop Publisher" written, edited, and published by Henry Budgett (henry.budgett@usa.net) between 1986 and 1989."
"The following pages are an alphabetical compilation of terms commonly used in the graphic arts field, with emphasis on book manufacturing terminology."
"This glossary contains the technical and business terms from the fields of publishing, photography, computers, graphic design and printing."
"Welcome to the Rainwater Press Publishing Primer, which features more than 1,000 terms related to the digital publishing, graphic arts, and printing industries."
"The Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing is a searchable and browsable list of acronyms, jargon, programming languages, tools, architecture, operating systems, networking, theory, conventions, standards, mathematics, telecoms, electronics, institutions, companies, projects, products, history, anything else to do with computing."
"Includes more than 2,000 English language terms and definitions for Sun software, hardware and terminology."
"Language is ever-changing. This is particularly true in prisons, where there is the motion of people coming and going, a culture based on a unique set of circumstances, and the need to speak in words that often carry depths of meaning. There are forms of expression that can never be fully understood by the outside world. There are also words that vary from race to race, prison to prison -- as well as slang that find its way into prisons from the outside."
"A collection of historic words and phrases from the Barbary Coast, the French Quarter, New York, Chicago and other havens of the sinful and depraved."
"This is the language spoken by Philip Marlowe, Sam Spade, Mike Hammer and the Continental Op. When Cagney, Bogart, Robinson and Raft got in a turf war, this is how they talked."
"The terms and phrases here deal with investigative science and folklore, personal and corporate privacy, protection and security, legal, judicial and police matters."
"This is vocabulary that only lower (mostly much lower) class characters would conprehend, let alone use. Not to be employed in New Europa's better salons or when trying to pass one's self off as a flash toff."
"This dictionary is intended ultimately to be a fairly comprehensive guide to words, terms, and phrases related to recreational drug use. It contains slang, lingo, and technical terms."
"The ability to understand current drug-related street terms is an invaluable tool for law enforcement, public health, and other criminal justice professionals who work with the public. The Street Terms database contains over 2,000 street terms that refer to specific drug types or drug activity."
"The Indiana Prevention Resource Center on-line dictionary contains more than 3,800 street drug slang terms from the Indiana Prevention Resource Center files, with more than 1,200 additions from the National Drug and Crime Clearinghouse slang term list."
Commonly used environmental terms appearing in EPA publications, news releases, and other agency documents.
"The Encyclopedia of Law and Economics is an ambitious reference
work that attempts to survey the whole law and economics literature
in nearly 5,000 pages. Most entries contain two elements: a review
of the literature, written by an authority in the field, and a quasi
complete bibliography (not just a selection)."
All 172 chapters are
freely downloadable in PDF format, and
the bibliographical database is
searchable.
An extensive database of economic terms and concepts. This database currently contains over 1,100 terms."
"This glossary will eventually attempt to cover all of the terms and concepts from international economics, including both international trade and international finance, at least at the introductory level."
"Certain types of errors crop up over and over in television shows and movies. Because of this, nitpickers have begun to adopt a specialized vocabulary. I thought it was time to begin formalizing these buzz words in one location."
"The Cook's Thesaurus is a cooking encyclopedia that covers thousands of ingredients and kitchen tools. Entries include pictures, descriptions, synonyms, pronunciations, and suggested substitutions."
Food glossary in German.
Equivalent food terms in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.
Ingredients and their equivalents in Hindi, English, Tamil, Kannada and Telugu.
Section lasted updated: 5/25/04
"The glossary is meant as a growing resource for students, re-enactors, and anyone interested in knighthood, chivalry, or the medieval tournament."
"The glossary is meant as a growing resource for students, re-enactors, and anyone interested in knighthood, chivalry, or the medieval tournament."
"Over 1400 terms covering all aspects of medieval life and spanning the medieval world."
Includes terms for ceramics, fiber, glass, leather, metal and wood.
"Like all collectibles, the rare coin market has its own terms and slang. The following is a brief definition and explanation of the most frequently used coin collecting terms."
Terms relating to dissolute youth culture in Central Virginia.
Darmok is a language spoken by the Darmok race in an episode of "Star Trek: The New Generation". The language is based on allusional rather than literal meanings. This is a list of the phrases in the episode along with their more literal translations.
"Certain types of errors crop up over and over in television shows and movies. Because of this, nitpickers have begun to adopt a specialized vocabulary. I thought it was time to begin formalizing these buzz words in one location."
A searchable index of over 680,000 words in 134 dictionaries located on the Web.
Over 90,000 entries feature 10,000 new words and senses, 70,000 audio word pronunciations, 900 full-page color illustrations, language notes and word-root appendixes.