According to Oxford University Press, this is “the mother of all dictionaries.” The Oxford English Dictionary is an “historical dictionary,” providing the changes in meaning and usage of over 500,000 English words, including over 47,000 obsolete words.  The dictionary accomplishes this by including over 2.5 million quotations, starting with the earliest written use of a particular word up to the present.   

 

The Oxford English Dictionary:

 

·        Weighs over 137 pounds!

·        Requires 20 volumes in print.

·        Contains 21,730 pages.

·        Is about 8 times longer than Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary

·        Is longer than the Encyclopedia Britannica. 

·        Costs $895 in print.

 

Source:  OED Dictionary Facts

 

Needless to say, it is more economical and convenient for the library to make the OED, as it is affectionately called, available online where you can access it any time of day or night.