Root and branch: Revising the etymological component of the 'Oxford English Dictionary'

This paper provides an overview, with examples, of the style and policy being employed in the preparation of the etymological and linguistic components of the third edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. Significant areas of policy are dealt with in numbered sections, although emphasis is placed throughout upon showing how these areas interact in practice. Comparison is made with the treatment of similar material in the first edition of the dictionary and its four-volume supplement (and hence in the integrated second edition of 1989). © The Philological Society 1999.