本书收录同义、近义词9,000多条，对各同义词的不同含义、不同用法进行比较、解释，用最恰当的例句，从应用的角度表现各个同义词的含义、使用范围、使用对象或用法。
凯教授表示，这部词典与《罗格同义词词典》主要区别在于，它追溯了英语的起源。
Professor Kay said that one of the main differences from Roget`s Thesaurus was that the new volumes go back to the origins of English.
新出版的《牛津英语历史同义词词典》的编纂工作历时44年时间，其中最长的词条是英语单词“ immediately ”。
The longest entry in the new Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, a work that has been 44 years in the making, is for the word "immediately".
在编纂英汉词典时，应从以下几个方面增强英语释义的语义特色：释义时应阐明最常用的同义词及反义词的用法；
When an English Chinese dictionary is compiled, the semantic charateristics in explaining English words should be strengthened from the following aspects:the usage of synonym and antonym;
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