What does the OED tell us about the English language?

Examining the OED (EOED) sets out to investigate the principles and practice behind the Oxford English Dictionary, an extraordinary achievement of scholarship and labour and the greatest dictionary of English ever compiled. The project is wholly independent of the OED itself. Its main aim is to explore and analyse OED’s quotations and quotation sources, so as to illuminate the foundations of this dictionary’s representation of the English language.

See About the project for more information, and EOED content or Site map for a conspectus of the website’s content.

Work on this project ceased in 2022 and the website is now static.

For Charlotte Brewer’s current OED research, please go to the Murray Scriptorium.

Background

The background to EOED is explained in Treasure-House of the Language: The Living OED (Yale University Press, 2007), a history of the OED in the 20th century.

The present version of the EOED website was re-launched in 2019. The original website (2005-12), now archived, can be accessed via the link at the foot of each page.

Last updated on 2 July 2025