18 September 2007
The 6th edition of the Shorter OED is officially released on 20 September, but it’s actually been available for some time from Amazon and other outlets.
The Shorter OED is not simply an abridged version of the OED, but an independently edited dictionary. The Shorter OED focuses on words that have been in use since 1700, so archaic words that fell out of use before that date are omitted. It is also not a historical dictionary, so it doesn’t contain all the citations of use in th big OED. But this makes it more useful as a quick reference for writers. It’s a two-volume work, also available on CD-ROM.
It’s listed at $175, but Amazon currently has it for $110.
