Preface to the Second Edition (1989)

This section contains the prefatory material that originally appeared in volume I of the OED's Second Edition, published in 1989.

Contents

• Preface
• The New Oxford English Dictionary project
• Introduction
  • Special features of the Second Edition
  • Principles of integration
  • The translation of the phonetic system
  • New vocabulary
• General explanations
  • Main words
  • Subordinate words
  • Combinations
  • Derivatives
  • Ordering of entries
  • Ordering of senses
  • Pronunciation
• History of the OED
  • The first Supplement, 1928-1933
  • A Supplement to the OED, 1957-1986
  • The New Oxford English Dictionary project
  • The First Edition: staff and contributors
  • 1933 Supplement: staff and contributors
  • A Supplement to the OED: staff and contributors
  • Other contributors
• Key to the conventions of the Dictionary
• Key to the pronunciation
• List of abbreviations, signs, etc.
• Proprietary names