dictionary

UK: /ˈdɪkʃ^ənəri/ US: /ˈdɪkʃəˌnɛri/ ,(dik′shə ner′ē)

Inflections of 'dictionary' (n): npl: dictionaries

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

dic•tion•ar•y /ˈdɪkʃəˌnɛri/   n. [countable] , pl. -ies. 

1. a book containing the words of a language, usually in alphabetical order, with information about their meanings, pronunciations, special forms, etc.;
   such a book having the words of one language expressed in another language:
   a learner's dictionary of English; a Norwegian-English dictionary.
2. a book giving information on particular subjects or on a particular class of names, facts, etc., usually arranged alphabetically:
   a biographical dictionary.
3. Computing a list of words used by a word-processing program to check spellings in text.

See -dict-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

dic•tion•ar•y  (dik′shə ner′ē), n., pl. -ar•ies. 

1. a book containing a selection of the words of a language, usually arranged alphabetically, giving information about their meanings, pronunciations, etymologies, inflected forms, etc., expressed in either the same or another language;
   lexicon;
   glossary:
   a dictionary of English; a Japanese-English dictionary.
2. a book giving information on particular subjects or on a particular class of words, names, or facts, usually arranged alphabetically:
   a biographical dictionary; a dictionary of mathematics.
3. Computing
   • a list of codes, terms, keys, etc., and their meanings, used by a computer program or system.
   • a list of words used by a word-processing program as the standard against which to check the spelling of text entered.

• Late Latin dictiōn- word (see diction) + -ārium, -ārius -ary
• Medieval Latin dictiōnārium, dictiōnārius
• 1520–30

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

dictionary / ˈdɪkʃənərɪ -ʃənrɪ/ noun ( -aries)

1. a reference resource, in printed or electronic form, that consists of an alphabetical list of words with their meanings and parts of speech, and often a guide to accepted pronunciation and syllabification, irregular inflections of words, derived words of different parts of speech, and etymologies
2. a similar reference work giving equivalent words in two or more languages. Such dictionaries often consist of two or more parts, in each of which the alphabetical list is given in a different language
3. (as modifier)
   See also glossary, lexicon, thesaurus
4. a reference publication listing words or terms of a particular subject or activity, giving information about their meanings and other attributes: a dictionary of gardening
5. a collection of information or examples with the entries alphabetically arranged: a dictionary of quotations

Etymology: 16th Century: from Medieval Latin dictiōnārium collection of words, from Late Latin dictiō word; see diction