Almanacs
Information Please Almanac
Includes a full text Almanac, Encyclopedia and Dictionary that can be easily searched by keywords or browsed by general topic. Main features include a Daily Almanac, Today in history, Sports, Entertainment, People, Breaking News, Health, Puzzles, etc.
Old Farmer’s Almanac
Special feature stories are updated daily. Includes seasonal offerings, weekly wisdom, Today in history, Today in weather history, Advice of the day, Puzzle of the day, and Question of the day.
Nation by Nation Almanac
Provides basic facts, flags, government, geography, history, people and news of many of the worlds countries. Countries are listed alphabetically or by region. Links to related sites.
General English Dictionaries & Thesauri
Merriam Webster Language Centre
Features an online version of the Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary and Thesaurus. Includes a “Word of the Day” and word games feature.
Merriam-Webster Word Central
Designed for junior and senior high students who love words and word play. Includes a rhyming dictionary, an interactive verse composer, daily features and ways to transform and play with, and encrypt, sentences.
Wordsmith
Features links to several sites that “play” with words. The Word a Day feature is archived and can be searched. The Anagram Server rearranges entered letters into new words or phrases. The Word Server provided a dictionary, thesaurus and an acronym dictionary.
Parasaurus Rex English (Lingo 24)
This site helps with translations of some languages (e.g. German, Arabic, Chinese,French, Japanese, Romanian, etc.) and also with paraphrasing in English. Includes many other features such as a currency converter, a symbols dictionary, etc.
World Wide Words: Exploring the English Language
Provides information on the history, quirks, curiosities and evolution of the English language. Includes short articles on issues relating to language, reviews on new dictionaries, new words, etc.
Writing Tools
Features over 575 links, in alphabetical order, to various information resources. Includes biblical references, specialized dictionaries, glossaries, slang, business language, grammar, style, etc. An excellent resource for writing of all kinds, though the site would be improved with annotations.
Wordsmyth - The Educational Dictionary - Thesaurus
Provides accurate definitions for over 50,000 words, and hyperlinked synonyms. Searchable.
Thesaurus.com
An online version of Roget’s Thesaurus with links to word games, dictionaries, translators, and writing resources. Can be searched or browsed by category or word.
LexicalFreeNet - The Connected Thesaurus
Allows the user to search for relationships between words, concepts, and people. Basically provides a combination thesaurus, rhyming dictionary, pun generator, and concept navigator.
Multiple Language Dictionaries
Word Reference.com
A multilingual dictionary for English to Spanish, German, French, or Italian, and vice versa. Allows for the installation of links to be able to get a defintion / translation for any word on any webpage.
Japanese-English Dictionary
Allows students to have an online Japanese-English dictionary to translate material. Uses Kanji/Kana, Romaji, or English.
Specialized / Subject area Dictionaries
Biographical Dictionary
Brief biographical sketches of over 28000 notable people who have shaped our world from ancient times to the present. Searchable by name, birth year, death year, profession, achievements, and works.
HandSpeak: A sign language dictionary online
Provides over 3000 sign language signs for fun learning. Categories include: animals, colours, places, alphabet, and numbers. Features a “Sign of the day”. Includes information on deafness.
Nonverbal Dictionary of Gestures, Signs & Body Language
Provides a persepective of human communication from a scientific point of view, giving cultural information about body language. Includes research from anthropologists, archaeologists, biologists, linguists, psychiatrists, and psychologists.
A Dictionary of Slang (English slang and colloquialisms used in the UK)
Provides the British perspective on definitions for ‘slang’, predominantly those used in the United Kingdom, but also familiar to Canadians.
The Online Slang Dictionary
Provides the American perspective on definitions for ‘slang’. Contains some offensive language.
SlangSite.com - The Slang dictionary
A dictionary of slang, webspeak, made up words, and colloquialisms.
Online Dictionaries, Glossaries & Encyclopedias
Links to over 160 dictionaries and over 400 glossaries which are categorized and placed in alphabetical order. The 90+ encyclopedias are not sorted and very few are annotated, but most titles are self-explanatory.
How many? A dictionary of units of measurements
Provides commentary and an explanation for many different units of measure. Includes names for large numbers, specialized distance units, binary prefixes, etc.
Biotech’s Life Sciences Dictionary
Defines over 8300 scientific terms dealing with biochemistry, biotechnology, botany, cell biology and genetics. Includes links to many other life sciences sites.
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This page is created and maintained by Ms. B. Knoepfel (Teacher-Librarian), McMath Secondary School.
Updated March 2007.