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Official federal database containing government information. UBalt Law Library is a member of the Federal Depository Library Program, providing public access to U.S. Government documents. |
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It happened. A professor asked you what a word or term in an assigned case meant. You never looked it up or don't know how to pronounce it. It happens. But it doesn't have to happen again!
Below you will find a collection of dictionaries, many of them law-related, all of them electronically accessible to current UBalt Law members. The mostly commonly used legal dictionaries are Black's (Westlaw) and Ballentine's (Lexis+). Students should consider starting with Wex and then moving to a full legal dictionary, which will likely contain important annotations related to the relevant term that are not found elsewhere along with citations to materials utilizing the term.
For those performing research involving historical definitions, we have a selection of historical dictionaries linked here. They can be complicated to utilize electronically, so feel free to reach out to the Law Library if you need assistance, especially if you don't see the one you need.
Need help using this collection? Try HeinOnline's About Spinelli's Law Library Reference Shelf.
A Title List can be downloaded in KBART (TXT), CSV, or HTML format.
When using Hein, if you find you need help, click the Search Help link under the search box, or the Help link in the top information bar. Additionally, feel free to explore the items below.
Getting Started in HeinOnline.
Using HeinOnline.
HeinOnline Knowledge Base.
Hein's Tip of the Week.
HeinOnline's Suite of Tools.
What's New at Hein?
Researchers can view a Table of Contents for Checkpoint Edge by selecting [More] from the toolbar, then [Table of Contents]. Various general calculators can be found under [More] > [Tools], and [More] > [News] provides a stream of tax updates and access to the news library.
View the Checkpoint Edge Help Contents for detailed guidance to using the platform, including product training, quick reference documents, the Customer Help Center, Checkpoint Learning, and general updates and walkthroughs. Users can also select the icon of a question mark within a circle to access specific help whenever they see it.
To access guidance for using this resource, once in the database select the "Help" link at the bottommost section of the webpage.
About Gale.
Incorporates many types of resources, so that a single consolidated search can yield thorough research. A base of over 100,000 fact-checked articles and historical Britannica Year in Review supplemental articles, plus an expansive collection of multimedia including images, videos, audio, interactives, and infographics. Reference dictionary definitions from Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate® Dictionary, journal and periodical content provided by EBSCO, hand-picked Web’s Best Sites links, and primary sources & e-books from multiple sources including the Lillian Goldman Law Library at Yale Law School. All articles have computer text-to-speech options. Look for the speaker icon in the main toolbar.
If you need any help researching with this specific database, visitBritannica Academic Resources, Support, and General Information for easy to follow guidance.
About Britannica.
Guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of 600,000 words— past and present—from across the English-speaking world. As a historical dictionary, the OED is very different from dictionaries of current English, in which the focus is on present-day meanings. You’ll still find present-day meanings in the OED, but you’ll also find the history of individual words, and of the language—traced through 3 million quotations, from classic literature and specialist periodicals to film scripts and cookery books. In the process of its first major revision; updates revise and extend the OED at regular intervals (typically quarterly).
Additionally, now fully incorporated into OED Online, the Historical Thesaurus of the OED arranges the dictionary by meaning. Researchers can trace the changing language of the material world, the mind, and society, from the Anglo-Saxon period to the modern day.
Video Guides: for help navigating an entry, searching, understanding the web platform, categories, sources, and locating the help section.
Updates to the OED:The OED is updated on a quarterly basis, and the updates make up the Third Edition of the OED. The material added to the dictionary includes revised versions of existing entries (which replace the older versions), and new words and senses both within the alphabetical sequence of revised entries and also across the whole A to Z range.
Student and Teacher Resources, including researching with the OED, how to use the OED, and Help for OED Online.
How-to Guide: OED Historical Thesaurus [pdf file].
How-to Guide: Searching the OED [pdf file].
About Oxford English Dictionary.
Researchers can access a Title List in Excel or HTML format, organized by Coverage or Subject.
Users wanting detailed guidance on using this database can utilize EBSCOhost Help, or by clicking Help at the top, right-hand side of the page.
For technical issues, consult EBSCO Connect Help.