Examining the OED sets out to investigate the principles and practice behind the Oxford English Dictionary, an extraordinary achievement of scholarship and industry and the greatest dictionary of English ever compiled. By exploring and analysing OED's quotations and quotation sources, this research project seeks to illuminate the foundations of the dictionary's representation of the English language.

See About the project for more information, and our site map for a conspectus of the material we have put up so far.

Our main analyses are carried out using the search facilities of the OED Online (published by Oxford University Press) where more information about the OED may be found.

All responsibility for views and data published on this site is that of the author, Charlotte Brewer.