Unsurpassed as a scholarly dictionary of the English language, the OED is based on historical principles, that is, it shows not only etymologies but charts changes of meaning over time. It does so by making extensive use of illustrative quotations. Refer to the OED for questions regarding an author's probable intended use of a word or about a word's derivation.

Craigie uses the lexicographical model of the OED (above). See also A Dictionary of Americanisms on Historical Principles, which specializes in words that have come into the English language in the U.S., and Dictionary of American Regional English.

See also Robert L. Chapman's Dictionary of American Slang or Clarence Major, Juba to Jive: A Dictionary of African-American Slang. A much-lauded work-in-progress, Historical Dictionary of American Slang, promises to become the standard in the field.

Every student of literature should own this volume or C. Hugh Holman's A Handbook to Literature. Abrams includes short bibliographies for major entries and a series of articles on the major contemporary literary theories. Holman covers much the same ground as Abrams but includes more entries as well as bibliographies, an outline of the history of British and U.S. literature, and lists of the recipients of literary prizes.

Hawthorn addresses the vocabulary that has grown up around the literary theory boom. He includes terms from literature studies and rhetoric as well as terms that have come over into literature studies, often with particular nuances or emphasis, from other humanities fields, particularly philosophy, and from the social sciences. Since so much of this technical vocabulary is itself the subject of debate, he is shooting at a moving target in his definitions, but he does a good job of clarifying the often difficult locutions used in today's critical writing.  See also Julian Wolfreys' Key Concepts in Literary Theory.