How are our dictionaries created?

At Oxford Languages, we are committed to an evidence-based approach to creating dictionaries in order to provide the most accurate picture of a language.
 
Our dictionaries are based on analysis of genuine uses of words collected from real-life sources to determine a word’s definition, spelling, and grammatical behaviour, and to offer guidance on a word’s use based on this research.
 
This evidence-based approach to creating a dictionary is known as descriptive lexicography. Our dictionaries aim to describe the way languages are and have been used by people around the world, rather than attempting to prescribe the way a language should be used.
 
We apply stringent quality checks to all dictionaries produced or acquired by our expert team so our users can feel confident in our ability to accurately and meaningfully represent each language.

Why do we include vulgar and offensive words in our dictionaries?

The role of a descriptive dictionary is to record the existence and meaning of all words in a language, and to clearly identify their status. Vulgar or offensive words are included in our dictionaries because such terms are a part of a language’s lexicon. Our dictionary entries label words that fit into these categories to reflect their vulgar or offensive status and usage in the language.
 
We monitor how offensive language changes over time and integrate the changes we observe into our dictionaries to reflect real-life usage. Any changes that are made to our dictionaries are based on empirical evidence collected and analysed through our language research programme.
 
We are always grateful when users inform us of cases they believe do not meet our rigorous quality standards, whether due to changing cultural sensitivities or for other reasons.
 
Learn more about how we label our datasets.

Why do we include slang and regional dialects in our dictionaries?

In order to accurately and comprehensively document all words in a language’s lexicon, our dictionaries record and describe language usage in all of its forms – including slang and regional dialects.
 
Slang terms and vocabulary from different regions and dialects are labelled in our dictionary entries so that users can be confident in a word’s language status and typical usage.