Encarta World English Dictionary

Rating:
Summary: A modern dictionary
Review: ...I was at first very skeptical of the value of the EncartaDictionary; especially after reading some of the reviews.

I took a gamble and purchased the Encarta. I have not been disappointed. The Encarta is a modern dictionary geared to the writer of the twenty-first century....

The Encarta is a fine dictionary for the modern writer or as a gift to a young woman or man entering college.

Rating:
Summary: Best deal for the reduced price
Review: At under (price)..., this is a good buy. I have read many of the reviews here, and the various criticisms of the dictionary's shortcomings are no doubt valid, but it has its good points, too. The print is very legible and the format is as good if not better than my favorite (American Heritage Dictionary, 4th Edition). It will certainly not displace my AHD, but for someone who needs to upgrade from their old college dictionary, it's a reasonable and economical choice.

Rating:
Summary: Apples and Oranges
Review: Encarta World English Dictionary

I own a number of dictionaries and consult most of them every day. Each has its limitations. All are necessary to my work. These self-references are shared inorder to suggest that the Encarta World Dictionary will be praised by some, reviled by others. Given its substantial cost, you are urged to (a) determine precisely what your needs are and then (b) determine to what extent Encarta fills most (if not all) of those needs. It was a welcome addition to my personal library. I refer to it almost every day. When evaluating a dictionary such as this, how important is the total number of words? This one offers comparably fewer than others in its price range. How important are the origins of words? I prefer other sources such as John Ayto's Dictionary of Word Origins. How important is historical (especially biographical) material? In this area, I rate the Encarta adequate. How current do you require a dictionary to be? None other in its price range is more current. How important to you is the nomenclature of the Internet and WWW? There are far better sources if that is your primary reference need. No dictionary of this scale can be everything to everyone. I rate it as highly as I do because of its practical value to me. Also, because it is aesthetically pleasing. I again urge you to determine what you need from a dictionary. Examine the Encarta carefully and then judge for yourself.

Rating:
Summary: My ENCARTA Dictionaries
Review: I purchased a copy of this dictionary about 5 months ago. My passion is studying the roots of words as well as the multi meanings of the words (semantics). I love writing, do not want to be garrulous. I have one copy at my office, one copy in my room and one copy for my fiance who lives with me and I just bought one for my nephew. I actually have asked my local bookstore manager to locate a couple of more for me to give to my brothers as gift. I find this dictionary the best I have ever had. Of course English being my second language, in past twenty five years, I have had more than a dozen of dictionaries. The pictorial, the examples, and history of the words in this dictionary have just been very helpful and insightful. Sam Ghezavat

Rating:
Summary: Not such a "world" dictionary
Review: I recently purchased the Encarta World Dictionary, but was disappointed to find that it was not as innovative as I thought it might be. Although it does cover a lot of new words that have come into the English language recently, more established words have not been given much attention. Take the word marquee: Encarta's definition is "The canopy projecting out over the entrance to a large building, such as a hotel or theater". This is a definition most older dictionaries will give you. I think a more popular definition today would be "An internally illuminated sign outside a hotel or theater". The second meaning of marquee, "A very large tent with straight sides that can be rolled up removed, used for large gatherings" is the British English definition, but no mention of that fact is made. The British meaning of the verb "to slate" which is to criticize in the U.K. is not mentioned at all, nor is the Australian meaning of the word veranda. In Australia a veranda means a permanent awning projecting from a building over the sidewalk for protection from the elements. In my mind Encarta cannot claim to be a world dictionary unless it includes these meanings.

Encarta is well laid out and easy to read, but for my mind doesn't compete with the OED or "DIVIDED BY A COMMON LANGUAGE", (Great for finding out what's British and what's American).

Rating:
Summary: This is the one I liked the best
Review: I wanted a good dictionary for our household, not for professional reasons. I read many editorial reviews and user comments on amazon.com, then spent several hours in book stores comparing dictionaries. I put them side by side and looked up words, comparing the meanings in the various dictionaries. I was hoping the American Heritage Dictionary, 4th ed. (AHD), would come out on top, because it was so attractive with its 4000 color pictures and teal green words. But side by side with the New Oxford American Dictionary (NOAD), the Oxford won me over with its systematic method of presenting words in related meaning groups. Those were the two that I had narrowed my search to when, almost as an afterthought, I pulled the Encarta World English Dictionary off the shelf. The reviews had not been impressive and I admit to a certain prejudice about Microsoft, but the more I read the definitions and compared them to the NOAD, the more I liked the Encarta. The definitions are clear and unaffected, and often expand on the basic meaning to add more clarity. As the editor-in-chief writes in her Introduction, "...we have made the language of the definitions as natural as possible, and we have tried to avoid dictionary jargon where possible." I found it visually easier to read than the OHD or the NOAD. It has a slightly larger font size and the print is darker. I like the first edition better than the (just out)second edition in one respect: the first is lighter to hold and the words do not run into the gutter, something that is very pronounced in the second ed. The bottom line for me: this dictionary is a pleasure to use. I pick it up frequently just to read. It's a happy addition to our household.

Rating:
Summary: Not worth the purchase price
Review: Other reviewers have identified with great clarity other shortcomings of this dictionary so I will focus on just one: the claim to be a "world english" dictionary is utterly bogus. In reality this is an American English dictionary, with other versions of the language reduced to the status of dialects that merit little more than footnotes.

To take just one example, the definition for "boot" provides four meanings that are primarily or exclusively American (including an entry that perhaps only Microsoft could consider useful: "Denver boot: A Denver boot") without identifying any of these entries as "US", as it does for other countries' unique usages. Finally, at position 10, it provides the most common British usage, and that only by cross-reference to the American equivalent "trunk".

To call such as US-centric approach "world english" is not merely absurd, but an insult to every English speaker outside the US.

Rating:
Summary: User friendly and of a nice size
Review: The definitions were easy to understand....Not like some dictionaries where you have to look up the words in the definitions.

Rating:
Summary: A good effort but an impossible task
Review: The Encarta Dictionary is obviously a departure from dictionaries as we know them. It's self-consciously up-to-date and politically correct, it has photos and entries for people with questionable staying power, etc. But those appear to be the major weaknesses. Its definitions are crisp and to-the-point and don't get overburdened with technical language. It has a decent (but not spectacular) selection of words and phrases from other countries where English is spoken. It is especially good with Canadian terms but I noted several glaring omissions. The people at St. Martin's and Encarta are to be congratulated for stirring the pot a little with this new book. In the end, they set a task for themselves (comprehensive coverage of world English) that even the OED can't master. I would bet that the second edition will be more on the mark.

Rating:
Summary: Not worth the purchase price
Review: This dictionary was given to me recently by a well-meaning relative; it seems that it has already been sent to the deep discount bin of her local mega bookstore. She knows that I love dictionaries and purchased it for me, thinking that she had found a bargain.

Beware -- this dictionary is woefully poor in execution. Definitions often resort to using the root word within the definition, the alphabetical order it employs is not the same way to alphabetize that I learned in elementary school, lots of small print, etc.

For a dictionary which is supposed to be a "world" English dictionary, it seems to lack many world variations on definitions and leaves out "world English" vocabulary, too. This dictionary is clearly aimed at an United States audience.

Your money is better spent on a Merriam-Webster or American Heritage product.