Undoubtedly, words have been of paramount importance since time immemorial. They are the basis of communication; without them, the world would have been struggling immensely.

According to the Oxford Dictionary, there are an estimated 171,146 words in use in the English language. Each word has its uniqueness; for after all, each has a different meaning it wants to convey. For this purpose, dictionaries are present to help the language’s users communication better. Thus, we can say that dictionaries are essential.

Grammar or function of a word Basically, a dictionary is a book which contains a treasure of words in alphabetical order, their meanings, use and other necessary information about each word. There are various kinds of dictionaries: some dictionaries elaborate pronunciation, whereas some the tell use of a word in sentences to explain the concept of word and its many other uses.

In the context of computing, a “dictionary is a data-structure that contains various key-value pairs”, which store the values of each unique key in the form of numbers or text values.

How to consult a dictionary?

In general, it is not difficult to consult a dictionary to search for a word, its meaning and its usage in different contexts.

For instance, if we want to find the meanings of managerial, we will have to go to the page of the alphabet ‘M’, then ‘Ma’ and afterwards, ‘Mana’. It will open a vast field of words starting with ‘Mana’. One comes across ‘manage’, ‘manager’, ‘manageable’ and ‘managerial’ by using it in small, but meaningful sentences. In the same way, one can find any word in it.

Furthermore, a dictionary also shows the grammatical view of a word. For example, ‘manage’ is a verb, ‘manageless’ become the adjective, ‘manager’ becomes a noun, and so on.

For memory purpose one should first find a word in a verb shape. For example, ‘speak’, then one can make and memorise the meanings of word carved out from ‘speak’. You can memorise speaker by affixing ‘er’ to it, same way you can make ‘speech’, then ‘speechless’ and so on. Every word, small or big, has a root by which you can make and memorise all the word.

In general, one must follow these simple steps to use a dictionary:

i. Choice of dictionary: This is the first step to use a dictionary. The choice of dictionary is important because various types of dictionaries are available in the market, libraries and educational institutions. Some of them are used for specialised purpose in a certain technical field, such as engineering or medical. Others may be bilingual that convert the meaning of a word to another language. Therefore, one must choose the right dictionary for frequent consultation.

ii. Reading the introduction of a dictionary: It is important to get yourself familiarised with the dictionary you are consulting. Therefore, one must read the introduction to the dictionary. It contains important information on how to use the dictionary.

iii. Abbreviations: A dictionary normally contains a glossary of general terms used throughout the dictionary. It also contains important abbreviations used in daily life.

iv. Pronunciation guide: One must read how to pronounce a word, because there is a big difference between reading a word and pronouncing it properly during a speaking session. Various dictionaries provide detailed rules to learn the pronunciations of each word.

v. Find the first letter of your word: While searching a word, first of all, one must find the section of the dictionary which contains the first letter of the word we are looking for.

vi. Searching the guide words: On top of each page, there are guide words that inform you what type of words are available on the page. These words guide us to find the required word in the appropriate section.

vii. Searching the word: Now we can search the page section to find the required word.

viii. Read the definition: Once the word is found, we can find its definition and pronunciation.

These days, online dictionaries such as the Wordweb, Oxford, Merriam-Webster, Cambridge, etc., are available, and one can easily search the definition of any word without much trouble. Moreover, the Google search engine is so powerful that one can search the meanings of any word or technical term by just simply “Googling” it.

Summarily, we should utilise all of these advanced dictionaries in order to develop better linguistic skills and converse better!

Published in Dawn, Young World, April 10th, 2021