PLUG-INs Information Literacy @ Fujariah Colleges DICTIONARIES & THESAURI In Print
Dec 24, 2015
PLUG-INs Information Literacy
@ Fujariah Colleges
DICTIONARIES & THESAURIIn Print
Dictionaries are very
important books for students.
The meaning of a word is called the
“definition.”
They help students find the meaning
of words.
Dictionaries tell you if a word is noun, verb or
other part of speech.
Dictionaries also help you
find the correct spelling of a
word.
Dictionaries show you
how to pronounce a
word.
There are many
different kinds of
dictionaries.
Some dictionaries are in English only.
Some dictionaries have 2 different languages like
English & Arabic or English & French.
Some dictionaries only have
words about a special
subject.
For example, a business
dictionary has words only about
business.
There are computer
dictionaries, art dictionaries,
medical dictionaries & many others.
For example, a list of countries with
the capital cities or irregular verbs.
Some dictionaries have special lists of words.
Some dictionaries
have pictures or photos.
At the top of each page,
there are “guidewords.”
A guideword tells you what the first and last words on the page are.
In a dictionary, words are in alphabetical
order.
Here is an example of a page with the guidewords :
hundredth & hurt
Think about this example: if the first guideword is “take” . . .
you know that “talk” will be on
that page. T-A-L comes after T-A-K but before
T-I.
and the other guideword is “time” . . .
Another example: if the first guideword is “cake” . . .
And the other guideword is “come” . . .
Will “chocolate” be on the
page ?
Yes, because “chocolate C-H” comes after “cake C A” but
before “come C O.”
Think of some
examples using words you know.
Now we will talk about a book
called a Thesaurus.
What is this strange word,
thesaurus?
Is it a dinosaur ?
No ! A thesaurus is similar to a dictionary but it only lists words with similar meanings.
By the way, the plural of
thesaurus is thesauri. It is
irregular.
Here is an example an entry in
a thesaurus:
big, large, enormous,
huge
These words are called synonyms
or near-synonyms. They have very
similar meanings.
Or: small, little,
tiny, miniature
Sometimes, a thesaurus also lists words with
opposite meanings.
For example :rich-poor
expensive-cheapsmart-stupid
These words are called antonyms.
Words in a thesaurus are listed
by the subject or idea.
Sometimes the subjects are in alphabetical
order.
Sometimes, subjects are
listed by number.
Here are 2 pages of a thesaurus with
guidewords : mind & money
There are dictionaries and thesauri online
from a computer.
We will learn more about the
databases in another Plug In
lesson.
From library.hct.ac.
ae click on Resources ,
then Databases
and e-books
I hope this helps you understand
how to use a dictionary & a
thesaurus.
Read your dictionary & thesaurus everyday.
These books are a
student’s best friends.
Ask your teacher or your friendly librarian
if you have any questions.
HAPPY READING !