HARD WORD

Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language | 1998 | 329 words | Copyright

HARD WORD. A semi-technical term for a difficult WORD of foreign origin: for example, azimuth, hierophant, munificence, perigee, Vedanta. Early English dictionaries, especially in the 17c, that explained such exotic words by means of everyday words, came to be known as hard-word dictionaries. See CAWDREY, DICTIONARY, LONG WORD.

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

TOM McARTHUR. "HARD WORD." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

TOM McARTHUR. "HARD WORD." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-HARDWORD.html

TOM McARTHUR. "HARD WORD." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-HARDWORD.html

Learn more about citation styles