Explanatory Review for Oxford and Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary | Oxford vs Cambridge.

Explanatory Review for Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary and Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
Which one is the best Advanced Learner's Dictionary? Oxford or Cambridge? Best Ever Comparative Review by khansrealm.
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary vs Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

It was year 2014, most probably very beginning of 2014, my elder brother suggested me to buy an Advanced Learner's Dictionary & said this is the one and only mandatory thing to have & read regularly to become fluent in English language. I replied him "OK, I will buy it soon". But somehow (50% intentionally & 50% unintentionally) I forgot my promise & after a couple of months, one day, after having a long lie-in (as it was my day-off) at around 11 AM when I woke up, my brother's advice strongly knocked on my sleeping mind because I got obnoxiously insulted by my line manager for my wording in official mail communication. I wasn't much bad though ;)

On that day, I ordered for a Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary on amazon.com & got the book in my hand in 20 days (may be). I was ecstatic after touching the book (wrapped up book :P) but my happiness ended just immediately when I unwrapped & opened it. That moment I felt like I was a sailor & my boat lost its direction in the middle of the sea. !! 

Whatever, I was so determined & exhilarated that I had to finish it & speak English like a native speaker. Literally I couldn't finish it yet & I think its not mandatory to reach to the end of this huge dictionary, it's like a sea in terms of English word collection. If you want to learn then you can, otherwise anyone or anything or any great books can make you learn. You just need to be very strong-willed.  

I'm talking about Cambridge Advanced Dictionary because I'm following this one & so far how much thankful I'm to it, I can't enunciate in words. Now it's time to compare between Oxford & Cambridge. Actually there is no differences between them at all. The main & only one difference is that in Oxford you will get the meaning of word with it’s root or origin whereas in Cambridge you will get the practical meaning of word with it’s use in sentence in different way. It's not difference actually, it's a level of high quality feature of them. Both are very useful & implausibly great. Both Oxford and Cambridge have already published many dictionaries. Actually if you ask me which one is better, it can't be answered; you can't meaningfully compare all of Oxford's dictionaries with all of Cambridge's. So I'm not trying to compare between them, rather trying to give you some knowledge about them. But I can definitely say you one thing, The Oxford English Dictionary is the authoritative historical dictionary of English and the best. No other English dictionary compares to it.

OK, let's have a look into both of their features, history, editions & other things.  

Before going into deep, I want to ask you one question, what do you know about advanced learner's dictionary? 

What is advanced learner's dictionary?

The advanced learner's dictionary is the most common type of monolingual learner's dictionary, that is, a dictionary written for someone who is learning a foreign language and who has a proficiency level of B2 or above according to the Common European Framework. It differs from a bilingual or translation dictionary, on the one hand, and a standard dictionary written for native speakers or linguistic scholars, on the other. The definitions are usually built on defining vocabulary.

Although advanced learner's dictionaries have been produced for learners of several languages (including Chinese, Dutch, German, and Spanish) the majority are written for learners of English.

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (OALD) was the first advanced learner's dictionary of English. It was first published in 1948. It is the largest English-language dictionary from Oxford University Press aimed at a non-native audience. Users with a more linguistic interest, requiring etymologies or copious references, usually prefer the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, or indeed the comprehensive Oxford English Dictionary, or other dictionaries aimed at speakers of English with native-level competence.

Editions of Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English was first published in 1948; the current edition is the ninth. The following editions exist:

1. First edition first published in 1948 (12 impressions)
2. Second edition first published in 1963 (19 impressions)
3. Third edition first published in 1974 (28 impressions) 
4. Fourth edition first published in 1989 (50 impressions) [The book's cover title was changed beginning with 4th edition.]
5. Fifth edition first published in 1995 (65 impressions) [However, the old name was still being referenced by foreign language versions of the dictionary up to 6th edition.]
6. Sixth edition first published in 2000 (117 impressions)
7. Seventh edition first published in 2005: Includes 183,500 words, short phrases explanations; 85,000 examples, 2,000 new words and definitions, 5,000 encyclopaedic vocabulary, Oxford 3000 commonly used word list, 7000 synonyms and antonyms, 2000 illustrations, 32-page colour illustrations, 96 pages of special topic pages
8. Eighth edition first published in 2010: The production had taken 5 years and over 30,000 hours of editing.
9. Ninth edition first published in 2015: Includes over 185,000 words, phrases and meanings (with 700+ new words and meanings). Added Express yourself notes, Wordfinder notes. DVD software support Windows 7, Mac OS X 10.6. DVD includes dictionary, British and American English audio, Oxford iSpeaker, Oxford iWriter, topic wordlists, teacher resources (downloadable videos, lesson plans and activities for use in class). Basic online contents includes dictionary, British and American English audio, pictures, word origins, usage notes, Oxford 3000 and Academic Word lists, Oxford Text Checker. Premium Online service includes My Wordlists. Oxford University Press edition (Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary NEW 9th Edition/Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary Ninth Edition).

History of Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, previously entitled the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English, started life as the Idiomatic and Syntactic Dictionary, edited by Albert Sydney Hornby. It was first published in Japan in 1942. It then made a perilous wartime journey to Britain where it came under the wing of OUP, which decided it would be the perfect counterpart for the prestigious OED.

A. S. Hornby was a teacher of English studies at a small college in Japan; he had gone there in 1923 to teach literature, but his experiences in the classroom drew his attention to the need for sound principles of language teaching. At that time Harold E. Palmer headed the Institute for Research into English Teaching in Tokyo, and in 1931 he invited Hornby to work on vocabulary development at the Institute. The result of this was the Idiomatic and Syntactic Dictionary, published by Kaitakusha in 1942. A year before publication, Hornby had managed to send an advance copy in sheets of the book to B. Ifor Evans at the British Council, a tough feat during the war. Ifor Evans offered him a job, and in 1942 Hornby came back to Britain and joined the Council, which posted him to Iran.

The sheets reached Humphrey S. Milford, then publisher to the University of Oxford and effectively OUP's managing director. Milford saw immediately that the dictionary could fill a troublesome gap in the Press's lists, since it was compiled for non-English speakers and rested on Hornby's solid experience in teaching the language overseas. Thus it explained spelling, grammar, phonetics, and usage much more extensively than would a dictionary for native English speakers. With the cachet of the Press to promote it, it could take the "Oxford dictionary" brand to readerships that might be intimidated or puzzled by the more magisterial OED.

But the command economy of World War II under which all British publishers were then operating posed a problem: everything was in short supply, and Milford appealed to the British Council for help in getting the paper and cloth. He referred the matter to E.C. Parnwell, who was looking after the Press's overseas projects, Milford being by then too unwell to manage the Press without substantial assistance, as he had been doing since 1904.

Hornby had brought with him the world rights to the book excluding Japan and China; Kenneth Sisam, then Secretary to the Delegates of the Press, gave a favorable report to the Delegates on the book. Milford also used hostility to Japan to push for a subsidy from the British Council, saying that "the Japanese are very cheap producers" and were likely to capture the market.

The book had more than 1,500 pages and for an edition of 10,000 copies would need ten tons of paper. Milford applied for a special release to acquire this paper "in the direct interest of British culture and overseas trade, particularly in the non-sterling areas". He had adequate paper stock to begin the edition but this was all earmarked for "essential reprints" and he could only use it if replacements were guaranteed. Milford's niece, Eleanor M. Booker, was now working at the India Office, and he lobbied for paper through her.

Finally the book came out between 1943 and 1948 and became an instant success. Today it is one of the most used resources by learners of the English language worldwide.

The book is useful for all competitive exams.

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Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

The Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary (unofficially Cambridge English Dictionary or Cambridge Dictionary, abbreviated CALD) was first published in 1995 under the name Cambridge International Dictionary of English, by the Cambridge University Press. The dictionary has over 140,000 words, phrases, and meanings. It is suitable for learners at CEF levels B2-C2.

Editions of Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

1. First edition first published in 2003
2. Second edition first published in 2005
3. Third edition first published in 2008
4. Fourth edition first published in 2013

Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 4th edition

With clear definitions and over 140,000 words, phrases, meanings and examples, plus hundreds of pictures and illustrations, this dictionary is perfect as a reference tool and as a study companion.

Packed full of useful study extras, this fourth edition includes hundreds of new words and has been specially designed to help learners become fluent speakers of English at an advanced level.

Key features:

1. Ideal for Cambridge English: First, Advanced, Proficiency, Business English andIELTS test preparation.
2. Up-to-date vocabulary includes words from the areas of technology, media, language, society and lifestyle, plus important words for academic study.
3. A new ‘Focus on writing’ section helps learners to develop their advanced writing skills.
4. English Vocabulary Profile correlation shows which words and meanings are known by learners at what level, so that students can prioritise their vocabulary learning.
5. ‘Common mistake’ boxes, informed by the Cambridge English Corpus, help learners to avoid typical mistakes.
6. ‘Word partner’ boxes show learners how to use words as a native speaker would.
7. The CD-ROM includes spoken British and American pronunciation for every word.

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