The Oxford English Dictionary is considered to be one of the top sources of English language words for 126 years. The latest collection of Oxford Dictionary consists of twenty volumes weighing 750 pounds that were published in 1989.
Currently, the lexicographers are working on the third edition of the dictionary and it has not been finished yet but on August 29, 2010, Oxford University Press, publishers of the dictionary, said that they are not sure whether they would print the third edition for the Internet version of the dictionary has become very much popular.
The twenty volume set OED costs $1165 and till date, Oxford University Press sold a total of 30,000 sets. On the other hand, the Internet version now gets 2 million hits per month from subscribers for a yearly subscription fee of $295. Amazon.com also sells the 20 volume dictionary for $995.
This popularity of the Internet version and high online revenue led OUP to release the next edition on Internet. Currently, a team of 80-lexicographers are working on the third edition of the OED and they only finished 25 percent of the work. OED just does not provide meanings but etymologies as well.
However, OUP will not entirely abandon the idea of printing the latest edition. It will do a limited printing but it all depends on the demand of the dictionary.
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