Description: For all those interested in the history of the English language, this is the first serious dictionary focusing on contemporary American English and directed toward the average reader.
Brief description: Robert K. Barnhart is a respected lexicographer and author of several dictionaries, including The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, the World Book Dictionary, the Thorndlike-Barnhart School Dictionaries and the Barnhart Dictionaries of New English.
Review Quotes:
"Avoiding abbreviations and technical terminology, and gracefully blending linguistic and historical fact based on the most current American scholarship. . . . For scholar and lay reader alike." - Library Journal
"[A] combination of readability with scholarship. . . of exceptional quality." - American Library Association (Reference Books Bulletin)