different between dictionary vs gazetteer

English

Alternative forms

• dictionnary (obsolete)

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin dicti?n?rium, from Latin dicti?n?rius, from dicti? (“speaking”), from dictus, perfect past participle of d?c? (“speak”) + -?rium (“room, place”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?d?k??n??i/, /?d?k??n?i/, /?d?k?n??i/
• (General American, Canada) enPR: d?k'sh?-n?r-?, IPA^(key): /?d?k???n??i/
• Hyphenation: dic?tion?ary
• Rhymes: -?k??n???i

Noun

dictionary (plural dictionaries)

1. A reference work with a list of words from one or more languages, normally ordered alphabetically, explaining each word's meaning, and sometimes containing information on its etymology, pronunciation, usage, translations, and other data.

   Synonyms: wordbook; see also Thesaurus:dictionary

2. (preceded by the) A synchronic dictionary of a standardised language held to only contain words that are properly part of the language.
3. (by extension) Any work that has a list of material organized alphabetically; e.g., biographical dictionary, encyclopedic dictionary.
4. (computing) An associative array, a data structure where each value is referenced by a particular key, analogous to words and definitions in a physical dictionary.

   Hyponym: hash table

Derived terms

Related terms

• diction

Translations

See also

• encyclopedia
• lexicon
• thesaurus
• vocabulary
• wordlist

Verb

dictionary (third-person singular simple present dictionaries, present participle dictionarying, simple past and past participle dictionaried)

1. (transitive) To look up in a dictionary.
2. (transitive) To add to a dictionary.
3. (intransitive, rare) To compile a dictionary.

Further reading

• dictionary at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• indicatory

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -??(?)

Etymology 1

gazette +? -eer, from French gazetier (“newspaperman”)

Noun

gazetteer (plural gazetteers)

1. journalist
2. publicist

Translations

Etymology 2

From The gazetteer's: or newsman's interpreter, a geographical index edited by Laurence Echard, 1st ed. published 1693. In 1704, in the second volume Echard referred to the work as Gazetteer.

Noun

gazetteer (plural gazetteers)

1. A geographic dictionary or encyclopedia, sometimes found as an index to an atlas.
2. A newspaper.
3. (obsolete) An alphabetical descriptive list of anything.

Translations

Verb

gazetteer (third-person singular simple present gazetteers, present participle gazetteering, simple past and past participle gazetteered)

1. (transitive) To describe in a gazetteer.
   • 2002, W. Francis, Gazetteer of South India (volumes 1-2)

     The success of the gigantic undertaking has been unparalleled: few countries, if any, are more thoroughly gazetteered than India.

References

• “gazetteer”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.