how to cite dictionary in essay

Dictionary Entry References

This page contains reference examples for dictionary entries, including the following:

• Entry in an online dictionary
• Entry in a print dictionary

1. Entry in an online dictionary

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Just-world hypothesis. In APA dictionary of psychology . Retrieved January 18, 2020, from https://dictionary.apa.org/just-world-hypothesis

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Semantics. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary . Retrieved January 4, 2020, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/semantics

• Parenthetical citations : (American Psychological Association, n.d.; Merriam-Webster, n.d.)
• Narrative citations : American Psychological Association (n.d.) and Merriam-Webster (n.d.)
• Because entries in the APA Dictionary of Psychology and Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary are updated over time and are not archived, include a retrieval date in the reference.
• The author and publisher are the same for the dictionaries in the examples, so the name appears in the author element only to avoid repetition.
• Semantics refers to the “study of meanings” (Merriam-Webster, n.d., Definition 1).

2. Entry in a print dictionary

American Psychological Association. (2015). Mood induction. In APA dictionary of psychology (2nd ed., p. 667).

Merriam-Webster. (2003). Litmus test. In Merriam-Webster’s collegiate dictionary (11th ed., p. 727).

• Parenthetical citations : (American Psychological Association, 2015; Merriam-Webster, 2003)
• Narrative citations : American Psychological Association (2015) and Merriam-Webster (2003)
• Provide any edition information about the dictionary in parentheses without italics after the dictionary title.
• Provide the page number for the entry in parentheses after the title of the dictionary. When both an edition and page number are present, place them in the same set of parentheses, separated with a comma.

Dictionary entry references are covered in the seventh edition APA Style manuals in the Publication Manual Section 10.3 and the Concise Guide Section 10.3

Citing the Dictionary and Other Online Sources

A citation of any online dictionary or thesaurus should include the following information:

• headword of the entry cited (in quotes)
• title of the source (in italics)
• date the dictionary or thesaurus was published, posted, or revised (Use the copyright date noted at the bottom of this and every page of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.)
• full URL of the site (up to and including the file name)
• date you accessed the dictionary (in parentheses)

Here are three ways you might cite the entry for hacker in the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, if you accessed it on May 8, 2011.

"hacker." Merriam-Webster.com . 2011. https://www.merriam-webster.com (8 May 2011). MLA Style: "hacker." Merriam-Webster.com . Merriam-Webster, 2011. Web. 8 May 2011. APA Style: hacker. 2011. In Merriam-Webster.com . Retrieved May 8, 2011, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hacker

Citing Other Online Sources

There is no universally accepted standard for citing online sources, but it is generally adequate to indicate the document's Web address, or URL (uniform resource locator), somewhere in the citation, usually following the date on which the electronic document was published, posted, or last revised (if known).

Thus a typical citation of an online source would show the author's name, the title of the document, the title of the complete work (such as the name of a periodical) in italics, the date, and the full URL. A URL is composed of the protocol used (such as http for Web pages; other less common protocols include gopher , ftp , and telnet ), the server's identification, the directory path, and the file's name.

Here are a five sample citations of online sources:

Agmon, Eytan. "Beethoven's Op. 81a and the Psychology of Loss." Music Theory Online 2, 4 (1996). http://boethius.music.ucsb.edu/mto/ issues/mto.96.2.4/mto.2.4.agmon.html Davies, Al. 1997. Mitral Valvular Prolapse Syndrome. Medical Reporter 2, 11 (Feb.). http://www.dash.com/netro/nwx/tmr/tmr0297/valvular0297.html Thursby, Ray. "Hopping into hybrids." Salon.com . Aug. 2000. http://www.salon.com/business/feature/2000/08/15/hybrid/index.html

In many cases it is necessary or desirable to include the date of access as well. Note that the date of access will often be the only date shown, since many online documents do not include dates.

Walker, John. "Resources for Learning French." http://www.fourmilab.ch/francais/1french.html (12 Aug. 2007).

Periodicals published on paper that happen to be accessed online may be cited just like normal periodicals, with no acknowledgment of their online status, if it is clear that the text has not been altered for the online version.

References to mailing lists or newsgroup postings should begin with the author's name, include the subject line (or a made-up descriptive subject line), and provide the name and electronic address of the mailing-list server or newsgroup and the date posted. A personal e-mail message can be called "Personal communication" with no mention of its electronic medium.

Marchand, Jim. "L'humour de Berceo." (1 Oct. 1997). Medieval Texts Discussion List. [email protected] Massey, Neil. "Year 2000 and Sendmail 8.86." (1 Oct. 1997). comp.mail.sendmail

Many mailing-list discussions are archived after messages are posted. Archives are usually maintained on the mailing list's server and may also be available through a Web page. An archived message is cited in its original form unless the message was accessed through a Web server rather than the list server or newsgroup.

McCarty, Willard. "The Fate of Universities." 13 June 1997. Humanist Discussion Group. http://www.iath.virginia.edu/lists_archive/ Humanist/v11/0097.html

Note: Since many online sources are highly subject to change or deletion, any online text likely to be cited — including personal e-mail messages — should always be either downloaded onto a disk or printed out and stored on paper (with a notation of the date accessed) as a permanent record.

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Citing a Dictionary Entry in MLA Style | Format & Examples

Published on July 1, 2021 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on March 5, 2024.

In MLA style , a Works Cited entry for a dictionary entry usually starts with the title of the entry—since dictionaries usually don’t list authors .

The example below shows how to cite an entry in an online dictionary. If the page displays the year when the specific entry was last updated, use that year after the dictionary name. Otherwise, include an access date after the URL instead, as in this example.

You can easily cite a dictionary entry with the help of our free MLA Citation Generator .

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Table of contents

Parts of speech and definition numbers, citing a print dictionary, citing a dictionary entry with an author, frequently asked questions about mla citations.

Some words are spelled the same but have different meanings and functions. To distinguish between them in your Works Cited list, MLA recommends you include the part of speech and (if available) the definition number of the entry you are citing.

Part of speech

A part of speech identifies the grammatical role a word plays. There are eight parts of speech in English: noun , pronoun , verb , adjective , adverb , preposition , conjunction , and interjection. Dictionaries usually identify the part of speech next to the word.

MLA recommends abbreviating the part of speech, and presenting it in italics. Check the table below for the correct abbreviation of each part of speech.

The part of speech should always be included when available, even if it’s the only one listed for the word you’re citing.

Definition number

If there are multiple identical words that function as the same part of speech but have different meanings, they will usually be numbered to distinguish between them. Look for a number that appears next to the part of speech, not the numbering within the entry itself.

For example, here’s an entry from the Merriam-Webster online dictionary .

If available, include the definition number in parentheses after the part of speech.

If there’s no definition number, you can omit this part.

In-text citations

In the in-text citation, the title should be shortened to just the word itself—omit the part of speech and definition number here.

However, if you need to direct the reader to a specific sense of the word, you can do this using the numbering within the specific entry you’re citing. Use the abbreviation “def.” for “definition” and give the numbering that identifies the specific sense you’re citing.

However, the word lock can also refer to “an enclosure . . . with gates at each end used in raising or lowering boats” (“Lock,” def. 2.a ).

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

To cite an entry from a dictionary you accessed in print, omit the URL and add the edition, the publisher, and the page number of the entry.

Note that page numbers are not included in the in-text citation, since most dictionary entries appear on a single page. The numbering within the entry is a more useful locator and should be used instead.

Some specialist dictionaries do list authors—either a single overall author or editor, or an overall editor in combination with individual authors for the different entries. Specialist dictionaries may not list parts of speech or definition numbers; omit them if not included.

To cite a dictionary with a single author or editor, just include their name at the start of your Works Cited entry, followed by “editor” if that’s how they’re identified on the title page.

When the dictionary lists different authors for individual entries, list the author of the entry you cite first, then include the editor of the dictionary later. The example below comes from an online specialist dictionary.

In most standard dictionaries , no author is given for either the overall dictionary or the individual entries, so no author should be listed in your MLA citations.

Instead, start your Works Cited entry and your MLA in-text citation with the title of the entry you’re citing (i.e. the word that’s being defined), in quotation marks.

If you cite a specialist dictionary that does list an author and/or overall editor, these should be listed in the same way as they would for other citations of books or book chapters .

If a source has no author, start the MLA Works Cited entry with the source title . Use a shortened version of the title in your MLA in-text citation .

If a source has no page numbers, you can use an alternative locator (e.g. a chapter number, or a timestamp for a video or audio source) to identify the relevant passage in your in-text citation. If the source has no numbered divisions, cite only the author’s name (or the title).

If you already named the author or title in your sentence, and there is no locator available, you don’t need a parenthetical citation:

• Rajaram  argues that representations of migration are shaped by “cultural, political, and ideological interests.”
• The homepage of The Correspondent describes it as “a movement for radically different news.”

The fastest and most accurate way to create MLA citations is by using Scribbr’s MLA Citation Generator .

Search by book title, page URL, or journal DOI to automatically generate flawless citations, or cite manually using the simple citation forms.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2024, March 05). Citing a Dictionary Entry in MLA Style | Format & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved July 2, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/mla/dictionary-entry-citation/

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Authors/Editors

If an encyclopedia or dictionary entry does not indicate a specific author or co-authors, begin the citation with a group author such as Merriam-Webster or American Psychological Association, followed by the year of publication in round brackets.

Capitalize the first letter of the first word of the title of the entry and the title of the encyclopedia or dictionary.

Capitalize the first letter of proper names in titles, such as names of places or people. Example: Canada

Publication Information for Online Encyclopedias and Dictonaries

Include the publisher name for an encyclopedia or dictionary where clearly identified, just as with a book or ebook. If the author and publisher are the same, omit the publisher element.

Some electronic content is assigned a unique number called a Digital Object Identifier (DOI). If a DOI is provided for an encyclopedia or dictionary, include it after the name of the encyclopedia or dictionary of the entry and edition beginning with "https:"

You do not need to put a period after a DOI number.

If you accessed the encyclopedia or dictionary through a website, provide the URL. If the encyclopedia or dictionary provides stable archived versions, link to the latest one without "retrieved from"; no statement of the retrieval date is necessary in this case. A statement of the retrieval date should be provided for any web pages that are dynamic and not archived. When in doubt, provide a retrieval date to help the reader in case the entry you use is updated between the time you read it and the time your reader looks at it.

In-Text Citation - Page Numbers

Page numbers may not be available for an online dictionary or encyclopedia entry. Here are some options if you have no page numbers and you are quoting directly:

Count the paragraphs, and use that number where you'd normally put the page number. Put the word "para." in front of it. Example: (Smith, 2012, para. 3). This example refers to the third paragraph in the entry. 

If the entry has section headings, you can use those. Encyclopedia entries often have section headings. Enter the section heading name, followed by the word "section" and then the number of the paragraph within that section. Example: (Smith, 2012, Climate section, para. 2). This example refers to the second paragraph under the Climate section of the entry.

If there is only one paragraph and no headings, as may be the case for many dictionary entries, skip the page/paragraph/section information and give the author's name and date only. Example: (Smith, 2012)

Note : All citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent in a Reference List.

A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.

Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year of Publication). Title of entry. In Editor's First Initial. Second Initial if given. Last Name (Ed.), Name of encyclopedia or dictionary  ( edition if given and is not first edition, volume number if there is more than one, page range ) . Publisher Name.

Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year of Publication). Title of entry. In Editor's First Initial. Second Initial if given. Last Name (Ed.), Name of encyclopedia or dictionary ( edition if given and is not first edition ) . https://doi number

Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year of Publication).Title of entry. In Editor's First Initial. Second Initial if given. Last Name (Ed.), Name of encyclopedia or dictionary ( edition if given and is not first edition ) . Retrieved date from URL

Name of Group Author. (Year of Publication). Title of entry. In Editor's First Initial. Second Initial if given. Last Name (Ed.), Name of encyclopedia or dictionary ( edition if given and is not first edition ) . Retrieved from date URL

Title of entry. (Year article was edited, Month Day). In Wikipedia . URL for archived version of the article

Note : To find and cite the latest archived version, select "view history" in the Wikipedia entry and choose the most recent date.    

Wikipedia may not be considered an acceptable source for a college or university assignment. Be sure to evaluate the content carefully and check your assignment.

Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year of Publication). Title of entry. In Editor's First Initial. Second Initial if given. Last Name (Ed.), Name of encyclopedia or dictionary (Volume number, pp. first page of entry-last page of entry). Publisher Name often shortened.

Name of Group Author. (Year of Publication). Title of entry. In Editor's First Initial. Second Initial if given. Last Name (Ed.), Name of encyclopedia or dictionary (Volume number if any, pp. first page of entry-last page of entry or p. page number for one page entry). Publisher Name often shortened.

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• Writing Tips

How to Cite a Dictionary in Harvard Referencing

3-minute read

• 8th May 2023

If you come across a source from a dictionary and want to use it in your research, make sure you cite it correctly, both in the text and on the reference page. In this post, we’ll show you how to cite a dictionary using basic Harvard referencing , one of the most common university referencing styles.

How to Cite a Dictionary on a Reference Page

As with any citation, you’ll need to provide all the basic source information on your reference page, whether you’re citing a print or an online dictionary:

●  Author’s name

●  Year of publication

●  Title of the dictionary entry

●  Title of the dictionary

●  Edition number

●  Place of publication (for print dictionaries)

●  Publisher (for print dictionaries)

●  URL (for online dictionaries)

Please see below for examples of each format.

Print Version

Author, X. (year). “Title of dictionary entry,” Title of Dictionary , edition number. Place of Publication: Publisher.

Online Version

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Author, X. (year). “Title of dictionary entry,” Title of Dictionary, edition number [Online]. Available at: URL (Access date).

The following are examples of what each one might look like on your reference page.

Smith, E. (2023). “Symposium,” Oxford English Reference Dictionary , 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Online Version:

Smith, E. (2023). “Symposium,” Oxford English Reference Dictionary , 4th ed. [Online]. Available at: https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/symposium?q=symposium (Accessed May 25, 2023).

How to Cite a Dictionary in the Text

You can use a parenthetical or a narrative citation to reference a dictionary entry in the body of your essay. A narrative citation mentions the author’s name in a sentence and immediately follows the name with the year of publication in parentheses.

A parenthetical citation provides the surname of the author and the year of publication in parentheses immediately following the sentence. A narrative citation looks like this:

And a parenthetical citation will look like this:

Be sure to follow the Harvard guidelines for citing multiple authors. For in-text citations, the names of up to two authors are included. For three or more authors, you should shorten the citation using the abbreviation “et al.”:

Expert Academic Proofreading

When conducting research for an essay, cover all your bases and make sure your citations hit the mark. When you send you paper to our expert editors, include your academic reference list and in-text citations so you can rest assured that they meet all the required guidelines.

We’re experienced in an array of referencing styles, so no matter what field you’re studying, we’ll make sure the structure and format of your citations are correct. See for yourself – try out our proofreading services by sending us a free sample of 500 words or less.

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How to Cite a Dictionary Meaning in MLA

Last Updated: September 15, 2021 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Christopher Taylor, PhD . Christopher Taylor is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Austin Community College in Texas. He received his PhD in English Literature and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014. There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 81,374 times.

Citing a dictionary definition is a little different than referencing an authored book, but it’s easy to get the hang of. An MLA citation shows the reader exactly where to find the source you accessed, so you’ll need to provide specific information about the entry. Include an in-text citation in parentheses right after the sentence that referenced the term. On your works cited page, list the term, the dictionary's title, its edition, its date of publication, and the page number. For an online dictionary, include the URL and the date you accessed the site.

Making a Parenthetical Citation

• A basic parenthetical citation would be: (“Onomatopoeia”). Instead of placing the period after sentence, add it after the citation, like this: Onomatopoeia is a word that imitates or suggests the sound it describes (“Onomatopoeia”).

• For example, your in-text citation would look like this: (“Turn,” def. V. 2a). Note the “V.” stands for verb; use “Adj.” for adjectives and “N.” for nouns.
• Write the part of speech and definition number as it appears in the dictionary. A dictionary might organize entries with numbers and letters (such as 1a) or with numbers alone (such as 1.2).
• If the word has multiple entries but only a single part of speech, just include the entry number: (“Wonderful,” def. 2).

• An example would be: (“Emoticon,” [Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary]).
• Suppose your paper references the definition of “Emoticon” in both Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary . If your in-text citations were just (“Emoticon”) or (“Emoticon,” N.), the reader wouldn’t know which dictionary you were referencing.

Citing a Print Dictionary

• If you specified the part of speech and definition number, include them in your works cited entry: “Content,” def. N. 1c. [5] X Research source
• Since there’s no known author, use the first letter of the term when you alphabetize your works cited page. For instance, you’d list “Content” after an entry authored by “Butler, J.” and before one authored by “Darwin, C.”

• At this point, your entry would look like this: “Content,” def. N. 1c. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary ,

• Now your entry would read: “Content,” def. N. 1c. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary , 11th ed.,

• Add the date like this: “Content,” def. N. 1c. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary , 11th ed., 2003,

• Your finished entry would read: “Content,” def. N. 1c. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary , 11th ed., 2003, p. 269.
• If your definition happens to appear on 2 pages, write “pp. 269-270.”

Citing an Online Dictionary

• The first part works cited entry for an online dictionary looks the same as a citation for printed source: “Content,” def. N. 1.1. Oxford English Dictionary ,

• Your entry at this point would read: “Content,” def. N. 1.1. Oxford English Dictionary , 2018,

• Add the URL like this: “Content,” def. N. 1.1. Oxford English Dictionary , 2018, en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/content.

• Your completed entry would read: “Content,” def. N. 1.1. Oxford English Dictionary , 2018, en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/content. Accessed 23 September 2018.

Expert Q&A

• Learn more about MLA style at https://style.mla.org . Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://style.mla.org/term-with-numbered-definitions/
• ↑ https://style.mla.org/distinguishing-dictionary-entries/
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_page_books.html
• ↑ https://style.mla.org/when-citing-a-print-dictionary-in-mla-style-do-i-include-a-page-number/
• ↑ https://www.merriam-webster.com/help/citing-the-dictionary
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_electronic_sources.html
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_formatting_and_style_guide.html?_ga=2.19623804.558179429.1522454400-1709346682.1522454400

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Answered By: Gopal Dutta Last Updated: Sep 23, 2021     Views: 51533

You do not always need to cite and reference a dictionary definition. Whether you need to or not will depend on the type of dictionary and/or how you are using the definition in your work.   Language dictionaries   As you are not using the words, ideas or theory of an author, you do not usually need to cite and reference a language dictionary (for example the Oxford English dictionary). Instead, introduce the definition in your writing.  One way to present this is as follows:   According to the Oxford English Dictionary the definition of [XXXXX] is [XXXXXX]   If however you have a particular need in your work to cite a language dictionary definition, for example, if comparing varying definitions from language dictionaries by different publishers, follow the format as follows.  The example provided is for an online dictionary, therefore 'online' is used in the citation in place of the page number.

Example citation

(Oxford English Dictionary, 2016:online)

If you are going to refer to the Oxford English Dictionary again in your work, introduce the acronym OED in your citation as follows

(Oxford English Dictionary [OED], 2016:online)

Oxford English Dictionary. (2016) reference, v. 3 . Oxford: Oxford University. [Online] [Accessed on 10th February 2017] http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/160845 

Subject dictionaries and encyclopedias   As subject dictionaries and encyclopedias are usually written by a specific author/s or organisation, and contextual definitions are provided, you will need to cite and reference them in the usual way.   

Many subject dictionaries and encyclopedias, are edited books with entries written by different authors. In this instance follow the format for referencing a  Chapter in an edited book  

Example reference 

Muncie, J. (2001) 'Labelling.' In McLaughlin, E. and Muncie, J. (eds.) The SAGE dictionary of criminology . London: SAGE, pp. 159-160.

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Using Word Definitions in Formal Essays: Incorporation and Citation

by Robbie Glen

A side note on titles and abbreviations: This abbreviated title rule does not always apply for the body of your paper. The OED may be called the OED in the body because, although it is an abbreviated form, people actually call it this (at least this is my explanation). Generally, abbreviated titles are only acceptable within citations, e.g. a paper on Love's Labour's Lost, while referring to the entire title in the prose, may, after the play has been identified, thereafter cite simply by using LLL followed by the act, scene and line number(s). However, the author would not say, "When the acting company first performed LLL ?"-this is too informal, and while I have seen it done, it is rare and best avoided for our purposes. When we get into writing papers that compare and contrast multiple texts from this course, you'll be able to abbreviate Fight Club as FC and The Talented Mr. Ripley as TTMR in your citations, after the first time you've identified the text by its full name. In general, one word titles are not truncated to a single letter, so we won't be representing Vertigo as V .

I've attached the OED 's entry for sympathy as a noun; as you'll see, there are four main definitions, and #1 and #3 have sub-definitions. The citation I use above shows my reader that I am referring first to the entry for sympathy as a noun, secondly that it is definition number 3, and thirdly that it is sub-definition d. Citing so specifically is crucial, especially since differences between various definitions can often be maddeningly subtle on first examination. If you are using a definition to shape or support your argument, you want to eliminate any possibility of misunderstanding on the part of your reader.

Here is the link to the definition of Sympathy as a noun.

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When including URLs, use a DOI or permalink  if available. The  MLA Handbook  encourages writers to list the available URL if there is not a DOI or permalink.

 Note : If you do not have information such as an editor's name, a volume or page numbers, omit those elements from your citation.

"Title of Entry." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia,  Wikimedia Foundation, Day Month Year entry was last modified, Time entry was last modified, URL of entry. Accessed Day Month Year Wikipedia entry was last viewed.

"Body Image."  Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia,  Wikimedia  Foundation, 16 June 2016, 7:41 pm, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_image.

 Notes :

• Wikipedia may not be considered an acceptable source for assignments. Be sure to evaluate the content carefully and check your assignment
• The date and time the article was last modified appears at the bottom of each Wikipedia article. You may include an access date as an optional element if you think it will be useful to your readers.

Encyclopedia or Dictionary from Library Database

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Entry." Title of Encyclopedia or Dictionary , edited by   Editor's First Name Last Name, Edition if given and not first edition, vol. Volume Number, Publisher Name, Date of Publication, pp. First Page - Last Page. Name of Database,  permalink URL or DOI.

Selby, Christine. "Assessment."  Eating Disorders: An Encyclopedia of Causes, Treatment, and Prevention , edited by Justine J. Reel,  ABC-CLIO , 2014, pp. 35-43. ProQuest E-book Central,  https:// ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/knowledgecenter/detail.action?pq-origsite=primo&docID=1135401.

Encyclopedia or Dictionary From Database - Unknown Author

"Title of Entry."  Title of Encyclopedia or Dictionary , edited by   Editor's First Name Last Name, Edition if given and not first edition, vol. Volume Number, Publisher Name, Date of Publication, pp. First Page - Last Page.  Name of Database.  

"Shakespeare, William."  Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia , World Book, 2016.  Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, https://unr.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=funk&AN=SH093700&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

  Note: This example had no editor's name, edition, volume or page numbers, so these elements were left out of the citation.

Encyclopedia or Dictionary From a Website

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Entry."  Title of Encyclopedia or Dictionary , Publication or Update Date , Name of Website. URL. Accessed Day Month Year of Access.  

McLean, Steve. "The Tragically Hip."  The Canadian Encyclopedia , 26 Mar. 2015,  Historica Canada . www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/en/article/the-tragically-hip-emc. Accessed 27 Jun. 2016.

 Note : In this example the date of last edit is listed as publication or update date. List the full date if given in Day,  Month, Year format, abbreviating the month. Date of access is the day the website was visited.

Encyclopedia or Dictionary in Print

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Entry." Title of Encyclopedia or Dictionary, edited by Editor's First Name Last Name, Edition if given and not first edition, vol. Volume Number, Publisher Name, Year of Publication, pp. First Page - Last Page.

Barber, Russell J. "Anthropological Ethics."  Ethics , edited by John K. Roth, Rev. ed., vol. 1, Salem Press, 2005, pp. 67-69.

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Answered By: Gabe Gossett Last Updated: Jan 03, 2020     Views: 76198

In most cases you should avoid using dictionaries and encyclopedias as cited sources in your papers. However, there may be some cases where it would be appropriate. This is how you would do it in those cases.

If you have an author for the entry use their name for the in-text citation and at the start of your reference list entry. When you don't have an author, which is often the case for these types of sources, follow the guidelines on page 176 of the APA Manual under example 6.15. There it states that “when a work has no identifiable author, cite the first few words of the reference list entry.”

Example in-text citation without an author :

The Charleston Index is one method for determining the mortality rate for patients with multiple diseases (Comorbidity, 2012).

Example reference list entry for the above in-text citation (note: also an example of an online reference source ):

Comorbidity. (2012, November 24). In  Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia . Retrieved 21:50, November 27, 2012, from  http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Comorbidity&oldid=524649802

Note: This is an example using Wikipedia, which is updated constantly. That is why there are more details than usual for the publication and retrieval date and time. For non-wiki reference works less detail is required.

Example in-text citation with an author :

Amnesty International was established in support of "prisoners of conscience" (Wong, 2012, p. 65).

Example reference list entry for the above in-text citation (note: also an example for a print source or source with a doi ):

Wong, W. (2012). Amnesty International. In H. Anheier, & M. Juergensmeyer (Eds.),  Encyclopedia of global studies.  (pp. 65-67). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452218557.n19

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Comments (6)

• I am trying to figure out how to reference a word from the urban dictionary website. The word is Wifey. And is used in my assignment as follows: The other half of my rock a in d support system is a wonderful woman I call my Wifey! by Mistry on Jan 19, 2019
• Hi Mistry, Citing the Urban Dictionary is tricky in that the APA Manual does not give specific guidance on citing from sources where there might be multiple definitions authored by different people. One thing that is important, however, is to make sure you are clear to your reader about which entry you are citing. What I recommend in this case is using the author handle, or name, for the author. Also, since Urban Dictionary changes often it is a good idea to include a retrieved on date. In making these recommendations I am looking at the following sections 7.02 and 7.11 in the APA Manual and the APA Style Blog entry on citing Wikipedia So your reference list entry might follow a format of Author name OR User handle (Date). Wifey. In Urban Dictionary. Retrieved January 28, 2019, from https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Wifey by Gabe [Research & Writing Studio] on Jan 28, 2019
• Hi Gabe, I am trying to reference https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/well-being. Would this be right: Well-being. (n.d.). In English Oxford Living Dictionaries. Retrieved February 8, 2019, from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/well-being ? I am not sure if 2019 can be considered the publication date.. Please advise. Thank you! by Shugs on Feb 08, 2019
• Hi Shugs, I think you have a pretty functional reference list entry there. I would personally lean towards using 2019 as the date since it is listed as the copyright in the footer myself. Also, while it doesn't hurt, for this source I don't think you need to have the accessed on date. In the example for this FAQ it is Wikipedia, which is often updated and therefore the access date and time helps the reader identify the information that you consulted. Regardsm Gabe by Gabe [Research & Writing Studio] on Feb 08, 2019
• Hi, I wanted to ask how then do we cite 2 different terms from the same source in APA 7? by Grace on Dec 12, 2021
• @Grace: That's a good question. Unfortunately, I don't see explicit guidance in the APA Manual on this particular question, but section 8.13 does provide some guidance that might help when citing a specific part of a source. The guidance is fairly open, stating "to cite a specific part of a source, provide an author-date citation for the work plus information about the specific part." You could use a page number, which might be the cleanest way to approach it. Otherwise, if you are clear in your narrative about which entry you are referring to, an author-date citation might suffice. The objective should be to make it clear to your reader where you are drawing your information from. by Gabe Gossett on Dec 14, 2021

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How to Cite a Dictionary Website

Last Updated: September 15, 2021

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Jennifer Mueller, JD . Jennifer Mueller is a wikiHow Content Creator. She specializes in reviewing, fact-checking, and evaluating wikiHow's content to ensure thoroughness and accuracy. Jennifer holds a JD from Indiana University Maurer School of Law in 2006. This article has been viewed 25,769 times.

When writing a research paper, you may need to quote or paraphrase the dictionary definition of a word. If you use an online dictionary, you can't just cite the print dictionary. A proper citation lets your readers go directly to the source you used. The basic information included in a citation to a dictionary website is the same regardless of the citation style you use. However, the format differs depending on whether you're using the Modern Language Association (MLA), American Psychological Association (APA), or Chicago citation style.

• Example: "Filibuster."

• Example: "Filibuster." Merriam-Webster's Learners Dictionary,

• Example: "Filibuster." Merriam-Webster's Learners Dictionary, 16 July 2018,
• If there is no date appears on the web page for the entry, simply leave this information out of the citation. Do not use the copyright date for the website.

• Example: "Filibuster." Merriam-Webster's Learners Dictionary, 16 July 2018, Merriam-Webster . www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/filibuster.

• Example: "Filibuster." Merriam-Webster's Learners Dictionary, 16 July 2018, Merriam-Webster . www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/filibuster. Accessed 27 July 2018.

• Example: ("Filibuster").

• Example: Filibuster.

• Example: Filibuster. (2018).

• Example: Filibuster. (2018). In Merriam-Webster's learners dictionary .
• If the dictionary has a named editor, list that name before the name of the dictionary. For example: Filibuster. (2018). In I. M. Wordsmith (Ed.), Merriam-Webster's learners dictionary .

• Example: Filibuster. (2018). In Merriam-Webster's learners dictionary . Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/filibuster

• Example: ("Filibuster," 2018).

• Example: Merriam-Webster's Learners Dictionary , s.v. "Filibuster,"

• Example: Merriam-Webster's Learners Dictionary , s.v. "Filibuster," accessed July 27, 2018,

• Example: Merriam-Webster's Learners Dictionary , s.v. "Filibuster," accessed July 27, 2018, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/filibuster.

• The abbreviation "s.v." also indicates to your readers that the source consists of alphabetical entries. Even if you were using a print dictionary, you wouldn't include the page number where the word appears. Rather, readers would simply look up the word.
• Well-known dictionaries are typically only cited in footnotes, not in the bibliography. When in doubt, go ahead and include the bibliography entry – especially for online dictionaries.

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• ↑ http://columbiacollege-ca.libguides.com/mla/encyclopedias
• ↑ https://www.lib.sfu.ca/help/cite-write/citation-style-guides/chicago/encyclopedias-dictionaries

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Answered By: Paul Lai Last Updated: Jul 17, 2023     Views: 810290

If you are creating an in-text citation for a dictionary entry, you would follow APA's standard in-text citation guidelines of including the first part of the reference and the year. For example, your in-text citations might look like this: ( Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary , 1999) or (Onomatopoeia, n.d.). These in-text citations would then align with your reference list citations. 

If you are citing a full dictionary in your reference list, you would place the title of the dictionary in the position where the author’s name would normally go, so it would look like this:

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary  (10th ed.). (1999). Merriam-Webster Incorporated.

If you are citing a single entry in an online dictionary, you will need to include the word that you looked up first, so it would look something like this:

Onomatopoeia. (n.d.) In Merriam-Webster’s collegiate dictionary . http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/onomatopoeia

Additional Resources:

• Learn more about citing electronic sources.
• See How do I cite in my text? for more tips on in-text citations.
• View some common reference list examples on the Writing Center's website . 

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Home › Study Tips › How To Cite The Oxford English Dictionary: Using MLA And APA

How To Cite The Oxford English Dictionary: Using MLA And APA

• Published June 2, 2022

Writing academic essays and research papers can be more complex than it already is when you don’t know how to cite the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).

It becomes even more confusing depending on what type of OED you’re using, online or print. Why? Because you cite them in different ways. You can now rest easy since you’ve come to the right place. Read more if you want to learn how to cite the Oxford English Dictionary. 

And, if you’re looking to get ahead of your competition in education, then browse our summer programs in Oxford for high school students .

MLA or APA? 

The first step to citing any reference is to figure out what style you need to follow: MLA or APA? What’s the difference, you ask?

Good question!

The most significant is that MLA (Modern Language Association) is used for arts and humanities while APA (American Psychology Association) is for social science. Once you determine which style you need to use, you’re on your way to writing an academic essay ! 

How To Cite The Oxford English Dictionary Using MLA 9th Edition

Library database, known author.

If you’re accessing the Oxford English Dictionary via a library database and you know who the author is, this is how you cite it. 

Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Entry.” Title of Encyclopedia or Dictionary , edited by Editor’s First Name Last Name, Edition if given and not first edition, vol. Volume Number if more than one volume, Publisher Name, Date of Publication, pp. First Page-Last Page. Name of Database . https://doi.org/DOI if there is one.

If the word you’re referencing is only found on one page, list it as such—no need to write it as a first page-last page. But if there’s no page number, you can choose to omit it. What if you don’t know who the editors are or what volume it is? You can also leave them out of your citation.  

In-Text Citation: 

(Author’s Last Name, page number)

If the page number is unavailable:

(Author’s Last Name)

Unknown Author

What if you don’t know who the author is? Here’s how to cite your entry.

“Title of Entry.” Title of Encyclopedia or Dictionary , edited by Editor’s First Name Last Name, Edition if given and not first edition, vol. Volume Number, Publisher Name, Date of Publication, pp. First Page-Last Page. Name of Database . https://doi.org/DOI if there is one.

What if you don’t have specific information such as pages volume numbers and editors? You don’t have to include them. 

Since you don’t know the author, you need to input the first one to three words from the entry title. Please remember to enclose the title within quotation marks. Also, don’t forget to capitalise the first letter of each word. Just like this:

(“Diversity”)

Perhaps the easiest way to access the Oxford English Dictionary is through their various websites. If you know the author, here’s how to cite it:

Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Entry.” Title of Encyclopedia or Dictionary , Publication or Update Date, URL. Accessed Day Month Year site was visited.

Did you notice that “Accessed Day Month Year site was visited” is unique to website citations? If you’re wondering, it simply refers to the day you visited the website. Also, don’t forget to abbreviate the month for the publication/update date and the accessed date; it’s necessary to abbreviate the month. 

If you don’t know who the author is, you can cite your entry this way:

“Title of Entry.” Title of Encyclopedia or Dictionary , Publisher if known, Copyright Date or Date Updated, URL. Accessed Day Month Year site was visited.

With the lack of author information, all you have to do is place the first one to three words of the entry title within quotation marks. Remember to capitalise the first letter of each term. Here’s how:

(“Victorian”)

Of course, we can’t forget physical Oxford English Dictionaries! If you intend to use one, here’s how you can cite the material:

Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Entry.” Title of Encyclopedia or Dictionary, edited by Editor’s First Name Last Name, Edition if given and not first edition, vol. Volume Number, Publisher Name, Year of Publication, pp. First Page-Last Page.

In case the author’s name is not provided, just the editors’, cite it this way: 

 “Title of Entry.” Title of Encyclopedia or Dictionary , edited by Editor’s First Name Last Name, Edition if given and not first edition, vol. Volume Number, Publisher Name, Year of Publication, pp. First Page-Last Page.

Since there’s no author information available, you can use the first one to three words of the entry title and enclose it with quotation marks. Capitalise the first letter of each word. Then place the page number after. Take a look at this:

(“Middle Age” 545)

How To Cite Two Authors

How should you cite the material if there are two authors? By listing them how they appear on the page. Not alphabetically! 

First Author’s Last Name, First Author’s First Name, and First Name Last Name of Second Author

Here’s what it will look like:

Will, Thomas, and Melissa Jones

How To Cite More Than Two Authors

If there are more than two authors, what you need to do is to focus on the first author in the list. 

Last Name, First Name, et al. 

In actual practice, it will look like this:

Will, Thomas, et al.

How To Cite The Oxford English Dictionary Using APA 7th Edition

The APA style is more straightforward than the MLA. When citing authors, remember it’s only the last name that’s spelt out. The first name is abbreviated. If the author’s name is Melissa Jones, the citation will look like this:

Jones, M. 

If the author’s middle name is given, for instance, Melissa Smith Jones, here’s how to cite it. 

Jones, M.S. 

When referencing the Oxford English Dictionary you find online, determine if it’s an archived version or not. If not, it means that the dictionary is continuously being updated. 

Online Archived Version: 

Author A. A. (Date). Title of entry. In E. E. Editor (Ed.), Name of dictionary/encyclopedia . URL.

Online Version With Continuous Updates:

Author A. A. (n.d.). Title of entry. In E. E. Editor (Ed.), Name of dictionary/encyclopedia (edition, if not the first). Publisher. URL.

No Authors, But There Are Editors: 

Editor, A., & Editor, B. (Eds.). (Date). Dictionary/Encyclopedia entry. In Name of dictionary/encyclopedia (edition, if not the first). Publisher.

No Authors And No Editors: Use Company As Corporate Author

Corporate Author. (Date). Dictionary/Encyclopedia entry. In Name of dictionary/encyclopedia (edition, if not the first). Publisher.

In-Text Citation

(Author’s last name, date)

Wrapping Up 

There you have it! By now you know how to cite the Oxford English Dictionary using both the MLA and APA styles. You’ll be more confident writing your papers from now on.

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Home / Guides / Citation Guides / Chicago Style / How To Cite a Dictionary in Chicago/Turabian

How To Cite a Dictionary in Chicago/Turabian

If you need to define an important word in your paper, you should provide a citation for the dictionary entry for that term. This guide will show you how to cite an online dictionary entry in notes-bibliography style using the 17th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style .

Citing an online dictionary entry

Note: Popular dictionaries should be referenced in the notes only, but lesser-known dictionaries can be included in the bibliography if needed. See sections 14.232 and 14.233 of the Chicago Manual of Style for additional information.

1. Dictionary Title, s.v. “Definition word ( part of speech ),” accessed Month Date, Year, URL.

1. Oxford Dictionaries , s.v. “food baby ( n. ),” accessed October 22, 2013, https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/food-baby.

Note: To cite a print dictionary entry in the notes, the entry would follow the same format, but the accessed date and URL would be omitted ( Oxford Dictionaries , s.v. “food baby ( n. ).”)

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Use the following template or our Harvard Referencing Generator how to cite a dictionary. For help with other source types, like books, PDFs, or websites, check out our other guides. To have your reference list or bibliography automatically made for you, try our free citation generator .

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Do I need to cite a source when defining terms?

In my research paper, I have set aside space to define terms (each having a bullet point). My confusion is how I go about defining these terms. Do I quote a dictionary, another research paper in the field, or do I paraphrase either one? I found one paper giving definitions , but the author doesn't cite any source. Does this mean the words fall under 'common knowledge'?

• writing-style

The purpose of defining terms is to make it clear to your readers how you are using these terms, for example because:

• there is no consistent use of these terms in the existing literature,
• because your paper’s audience is not familiar with these terms, e.g., due to coming from another field,
• you created a concise term for some concept that you introduce in your paper.

First of all, this is not a case of common knowledge: If it were, why define at all? However, that does not mean that you must cite somebody. Instead cite somebody if:

You rely on a specific piece of work. If you had to look up the definition instead of coming up with it yourself, this almost certainly applies. Keep in mind that coming up with a useful definition of some things is a challenge and deserves credit. On the other hand, as a rule of thumb, you do not need to cite if you would not know whom to possibly cite in the first place (possibly after a short literature search).

You want to affirm that you are adhering to some standard. Using established definitions does not only make your work easier to read but also may make it comparable to other works or reüsable. If nothing else, providing a source for your definitions may calm down Reviewer 2.

Some examples:

I would not cite in the following statement, which is essentially clarifying a well-known conflict between two common definitions (whose history I do not know):

We here define the natural numbers ℕ to include zero.

I would cite in the following example, not only for giving credit but also for affirming my approach:

We here define epilepsy as […]. This is equivalent to the definition by Fisher et al (2008), except for […]. This difference is due to the practical reason that […].

Do I quote a dictionary, […]?

Regular dictionaries reflect the common non subject-specific usage of terms, which is by nature often broad, fuzzy, context-dependent, and different from academic definitions (if they exist). This usage is also what you have to expect readers to understand if a term you use in a paper is not specifically defined and there is no established use in your field. With other words, the dictionary definition is the fallback default anyway.

Therefore quoting a dictionary for definition is pointless in my opinion: it changes nothing and clarifies nothing. If you think that a dictionary definition is the best guidance you can give to your readers, you may as well skip it.

(Note that field-specific dictionaries are a completely different thing.)

Do I quote […] another research paper in the field, or do I paraphrase either one?

This may depend on your field, but I would refrain from paraphrasing definitions just for the sake of paraphrasing. If I rephrase definitions, I risk changing it. Therefore I would only do so with a good reason and when I can be confident that my changes do not affect the outcome, e.g., I could change symbols in mathematical definitions to match the conventions of my paper.

In all other cases and particularly in fields where exact words are important, I would rather use a huge quote than paraphrasing. Still, conventions here may vastly differ between (sub)fields, so best check what is common in yours. Either way, once you build upon somebody else’s work like this, you should cite.

• I fully agree with everything except the part about quoting a dictionary. Under some circumstances, quoting and citing a dictionary can be entirely appropriate. It lets your reader know precisely which definition you are using for words that can be defined in multiple ways. In some fields, such as law, citing the source dictionary can also matter since some dictionaries will be viewed as far more authoritative than others if you want to argue that the definition you selected is the one that should be accepted broadly. –  TimothyAWiseman Commented Dec 27, 2018 at 0:00

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