Product Description
This superb edition of Oxford's Modern Welsh Dictionary has been thoroughly updated with new words in both English and Welsh. It contains hundreds of example phrases of spoken and written Welsh, so that readers can see the language in context. Excellent grammar notes on tricky words and important topics mean that help is always at hand, whether users are working in Welsh or in English. Also included is a new section on vocabulary relating to the Welsh Assembly, to complement the vocabulary lists of countries, regions, languages, and cities that are already present in the dictionary. The handy paperback format and superior coverage of vocabulary make the dictionary the ideal first-choice for those who want a quick-reference dictionary that can be carried easily. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Welsh Dicitionary.
This is the best of many excellent Welsh Dictionaries, far in advance of any other I have used in the past. Its inclusion of phrases using the designated word is a great help. ... Read more

Product Description
The scope of this Companion extends over all the main fields of decorative craftsmanship--as well as a number of minor and specialized ones.It includes prehistoric crafts, crafts like leather-working and ceramics that have arisen more recently, and specialized crafts, such as toys and embroidery.There are also entries on important craftsmen and schools and surveys of specific cultures and periods. All the articles are written by expert contributors and the text is illustrated throughout with photographs and line drawings. ... Read more

Product Description
The Historical Dictionary of Choral Music focuses on choral music and practice in the Western world from the medieval era to the 21st century. This is done through a chronology, introduction, bibliography, and over 1000 cross-referenced dictionary entries on important composers, genres, conductors, institutions, styles, and technical terms of choral music. ... Read more

Product Description
For over sixty years, the Scottish National Dictionary Association has supported and encourage the Scots language. Its first main objective was reached in 1976 with the publication of the Scottish National Dictionary, a major historical work in ten volumes. Since then it has produced more dictionaries, bringing the riches of the standard works to a wider public. The Concise Scots Dictionary contains meanings, spelling variants, pronunciation, information on when and where words are used, grammatical information, idioms and phrases, etymologies and details of Scottish life then and now. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Excellent Resource
I ordered this book in order to use it for language research on a book that I am editing.It is an absolutely excellent resource for anyone who needs to understand the Scot's dialect.It is as it says, a dictionary, and one that give thorough, concise definitions of words.

Mairi Robinson, ed. in chief, Concise Scots Dictionary (Edinburgh University Press, 1985)
The Concise Scots Dictionary presents an excellent 816-page source of definitions for Scots words. It also contains 39 pages on the history of Scots, with a clear explanation of the dictionary's format. Two appendices explain Scots currency, weights and measures, as well as churches in Scotland. I have bought it because I rely on it constantly as an invaluable aid to researching Scots history, with particular reference to the Weir family.

endlessly valuable
Edinburgh University Press puts out this super Scots Dictionary.It's often very hard to find good a Scots Dictionary or a Good Gaelic Dictionary.This one is VERY good.820 pages worth, not a little pocket size.It has meanings, spelling variants,pronunciation guide, information on when and were words are used denoting area and districts, grammatical information, and idioms & phrases.What I like best about it - entomologies of the words.So many dictionaries leave off the origins of words, which is so very important when writing history and historical fiction.

It's painstakingly edited and without flaws from start to finish.Best of all it's not teeny print.The print is very clear and easy on the eyes!

Highly recommended. ... Read more

Product Description
The Dictionary of the Performing Arts combines all performing arts disciplines into one volume.Amazon.com Review
Music, dance, acting, film, television, and other creativeendeavors--each develops its own jargon to communicate within thefield. There's plenty of overlap in this terminology, and this oftencreates a confusing mess when artists try to work together. TheDictionary of the Performing Arts aims to help professionals,students, and critics understand each other by providingcomprehensive, cross-discipline definitions of thousands ofperformance-related terms. Each word is followed by short ormedium-length explanations of its meaning as used by differentperformers and technicians. "Fade," for example, has related butdifferent meanings to people working in audio, lighting, and motionpictures, while a "stage manager" is the same to any variety of liveperformance. Including terms from circus, vaudeville, opera, classicalGreek and Asian theater, the Dictionary covers vast tracts ofartistic territory--not many reference works contain extensivedefinitions of both pas de deux and heavy metal (thoughthe latter curiously refers to Jimi Hendrix as one of its "greatestexponents"). Whether you're a scholar or a showboat, the Dictionaryof the Performing Arts will come in handy when you need to makesense of the language of creation. --Rob Lightner ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

A very helpful tool in the theatrical field of study.
What's a word it does not have in it? This is a wonderful book to have around if you love the arts or are like me, and trying out for an acting academy.

marvelous
this is a marvelous dictionary.it is truly comprehensive covering everything "performing".I recommend it for anyone with an interest in the performing arts from professionals to buffs.even for those who want to "fake" it.here's where to get your terms right!

Excellent, useful, particularly the complex definitions.
The best thing about this dictionary, for me, is the treatment of the basic terms of drama that came originally from Aristotle and, here at least, are applied to the basic principles of modern theater in a lucid andmeaningful manner.

a great read
wonderful reading. frank, pick up miss plastini,2 midlnd gardens going to la gurdia.check,check.

a great read
wonderful reading. frank, pick up miss plastini,2 midlnd gardens going to la gurdia.check,check. ... Read more

Product Description
The Penguin Rhyming Dictionary is an indispensable reference companion for anyone who writes verse whether lyric poet, songwriter or composer of limericks or jingles. Clearly arranged and easy to use, it offers an astonishing wide range of suggestions for rhyming words, from the common and everyday to the more difficult and obscure. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

The Most Impressive Rhyming Dictionary on the Market!
This is so easy to use!Just look up the word in the back and it sends you to the section with what other words rhyme with it!I have used other rhyming dictionaries in the past, but they just seem to make the whole process more complex than it needs to be. Hey, I have an English degree and some of those other rhyming guides aren't even that "user friendly" to me!

The list of words includes both proper and slang words so be warned that there are profanity words available.I think for most audiences that won't be that big of a deal.Anyways, if you write poetry, lyrics, or just want to add a dash of catchiness to your writing than I suggest you buy this immediately.It's one of the few reference books that I can't live without!!!

Judging a twenty five year old by today's standards
Perhaps the 2007 edition (The Penguin Pocket Rhyming Dictionary (Dictionary, Penguin))really is new and improved, more streamlined and better structured, but this quarter century old edition shows its age.

First of all, it tries to mimic the old New American Roget's College Thesaurus in Dictionary Form (Revised & Updated) (Signet Reference) as we must look up our word to rhyme in the second half of the book to find its category, which is divided and subdivided much like Roget did his book of synonyms. This is quite cumbersome when compared with other rhyming dictionaries, including the excellent Merriam-Webster's Rhyming Dictionary, and perhaps (I do not know) is improved in Penguin's new 2007 edition.

I should not judge this book by today's standards, certainly, and I should not have tried to get this book on the cheap by purchasing the older edition. Much of the words are now archaic; there is much that is British dialect, and much of the rhymes are based on particular British usages which do not ring true upon our shores, not even as "slant rhyme."

Te fact that half of the book is a book list, and the other half categories means less room for an extensive list; in fact there are fewer entries in this book than in others. The fact it is so old, from the early days of PC's and of "mainframes" means the editor, Rosalind Ferguson, can write breathlessly of their wondrous service to the lexicon craftsman:

"To compile the Penguin Rhyming Dictionary, a list of words together with their phonetic transcriptions was extracted from a standard dictionary data base. The computer was programmed to sort these words, working from the end of the phonetic transcription back to the beginning, into phonetic order. Unsuitable and unrhymable words were then discarded and the remainder of the list was sorted into rhyming groups. The result it (sic) that homophones (phonetically identical words of different meanings), such as sight, cite and site, are now grouped together, and such rhymes as stipulation and manipulation, rather than being buried in an alphabetical list of -ation words, appear side by side. With its ability to scan through a complete list of phonetic transcriptions in a matter of minutes, the computer is an incomparably more versatile rhymester than the live poet with his dying brain cells and deteriorating memory (p. v)."

This continues on in this vein, and the old ghosts of The Voice of the Poet: Robert Frost and of The Life and Works of William Butler Yeats (Naxos Audio) with all their debilitations, Mr. Yeats ending with the marvelous works of Cuchulain Comforted and Politics, arise to shake their leaves of paper my way in vigorous, brilliant protestations.

I tried to get a rhyming dictionary on the cheap, and this is not it. Fortunately I also ordered the Merriam-Webster, which is wonderful. I suggest you go there, not here, as you will be sorely disappointed and wonder as do I what now to do with it. It is obsolete and incomplete. If you can I urge you to go where I have never been, directly to the Oxford Rhyming Dictionary.

A useful adjunct to the reference shelf
Occasionally , to write in rhyme
becomes a passion of mine.

Sometimes, although inspired
An elusive word is required.

Usually, this book is then consulted
But cannot be blamed for what resulted.

As it happens, I didn't refer to the Rhyming Dictionary to write this particular piece of doggerel.But a more serious attempt at versification would have had me browsing through the pages.This is abook that is meant to be used.I am still using my 1986 copy, and it is still in very good condition.

I recommend this book to all who love words and enjoy writing as a craft.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

love it
one of my favorites.... highly recommended for song writers... not hard to use at all...

It's rhyming but not binding.
I want to be careful as to which book I'm referring to, and therefore indicate that my Penguin Rhyming Dictionary by Rosalind Fergusson, bought in the US has a red cover with a horse and light bulb in right hand corner sqaure, with an '85 copywright date.

It's the second edition I bought, since the first one's binding collapsed so that I basically held it together with rubber bands. The same happened to this one in short shrift.

My Webster's Compact hardback rhyming dictionary is still together despite the wear and tear on its pages, so clearly I recommend this one over the former, since it's annoying to spend money buying something that falls apart in a few short weeks.

Aside from binding considerations, there's the problem with the lumping of many diffeent sounds together; "actress" listed under "iss" rhymes, which weighs us down with options that are incorrect anyway. Unless of course, "actress" IS pronounced ACTRISS!!!

Its plus is of course that you could look up a word like matriculate and find similar rhymes. Thus, paradoxically, convoluted words are paired with like words, while simple one-syllable words are sometimes lumped in lots that confuse.

But nothing is perfect and aside from the binding issue, it serves a purpose that in conjunction with other rhyming books can be marshalled in the service of writing a good lyric, or at least finding sound assistance in doing so.

Frank De Canio ... Read more

Product Description
The completely revised and updated edition contains more than 8,000 terms relating to food ingredients, cooking styles, preparation techniques, utensils, and types of culinary service. Clear and concise definitions, word origins, and simple phonetic pronunciations make this an invaluable resource for food and beverage professionals. ... Read more

Product Description
From antiquity, when the gods and goddesses were commonly featured in works of art, through to the twentieth century, when Surrealists drew on archetypes from the unconscious, artists have embedded symbols in their works. As with previous volumes in the Guide to Imagery series, the goal of this book is to provide contemporary readers and museum visitors with the tools to read the hidden meanings in works of art. This latest volume is divided thematically into four sections featuring symbols related to time, man, space (earth and sky), and allegories or moral lessons. Readers will learn, for instance, that night, the primordial mother of the cosmos, was often portrayed in ancient art as a woman wrapped in a black veil, whereas day or noon was often represented in Renaissance art as a strong, virile man evoking the full manifestation of the sun's energy. Each entry in the book contains a main reference image in which details of the symbol or allegory being analyzed are called out for discussion.In the margin, for quick access by the reader, is a summary of the essential characteristics of the symbol in question, the derivation of its name, and the religious tradition from which it springs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Big Disappointment.
I really thought that it would be a good reference book but it wasn't set up that way. The book is divided into 4 sections: Time, Man, Space and Allegories covering 71 topics. In each section, two pages are devoted to one topic such as "garden". Every topic is listed in the back of the book, but not alphabetically so you cannot look up the symbolism for a topic such as "doves" (which is not in the book) without going through the whole book. Also, there are many topics not covered in the book.

The book is only 5 ½" wide x 8" tall, so the text and reproductions of the artwork are quite small. It is almost impossible to see the detail in some larger works of art such as Michelangelo's The Last Judgment. But on a positive note, they were very broad in their selection artworks from different periods.

Very useful
I love to study classical paintings and to discover their hidden symbols. This book was very useful for me, because there is no definitive books for this subject. Otherwise, English isn't my native language, but I could read the book without difficulty.

Oversimplistic and information-poor
Only the most obvious is stated, and then only in the simplest possible way, with no background information, no "story" behind each symbol, its use by particular artist at particular time in history etc.
On the other hand very visual in presentation, therefore rather clear and simple, easy to understand.
Recommended if you are interested in the subject on a very superficial level.

A Valuable Guide to Understanding References in Paintings
SYMBOLS AND ALLEGORIES IN ART was originally published in Italian by author Mathilde Battistini and is here resubmitted to the art loving public in a translated version courtesy of the Getty Foundation. The book is visually stunning and informative and offers a very handy reference volume for the museum visitor as well as the artist in understanding the derivation of symbols and myths and allegories that have sustained a presence in painting since the Baroque period.

Well designed in a logical way, each symbol or mythological character or even still life component is fully illustrated with a full page painting and accompanied by a terse but informative few paragraphs of explanation. The fine aspect is the manner in which each painting is easily identified at the moment it is introduced, and even though a fine bibliography is found in the back of the book, for once the information necessary to make the 'connect' is right before the eyes of the viewer.

This well illustrated volume is a welcome adjunct to the art history library as well as an interesting companion for the reader whose fascination in mythology is what brings them to art in the first place!Recommended. Grady Harp, February 06 ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Product Description
Pictures labeled in English and Spanish are grouped in such familiar categories as "Our House," "The Four Seasons," "In the City," "In the Ocean," and "Colors." Includes bilingual indexes with pronunciation guide. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Spanish Nouns at a Glance
This is a book intended for kids, but it can be useful for kids and adults alike.As an adult, I purchased this book to brush up on my Spanish.I find pictures and organization make the memorization process easier.

There are more than 1,500 words covered, in 32 sections.Usually, the theme of the section is expressed through a large scene, in which the individual items can be seen.They are also separately shown, with English and Spanish description.I was happy to see that there were bilingual glossaries and that the Spanish-English one gives Spanish pronunciations.

This dictionary primarily concerns nouns, with use of the proper Spanish article; there are merely one section on verbs and one section on prepositions and adjectives.Many say it is more important to focus on verbs, language structure, and idioms, and that is fine.But I find it great to have such a quick reference for frequently used nouns.

Good for learning commonly used Spanish words.
I borrowed this book from a Spanish-speaking co-worker and have found that it is a very useful book even though I have been learning Spanishintensively for over three years.The book is very useful for quicklylooking up words for a variety of situations.Even after learning thelanguage it is handy to have a picture dictionary available - many of themore complicated picture dictionaries tend to be overwhelming and toodetailed.This book will not teach you Spanish grammar and will not teachyou how to speak the language but will definitely increase your vocabularyif you have some other resource avilable for learning the grammer.Thebook is an awkard size and you probably won't find that you carry it aroundvery often.

A book full of useful words and pictures for a beginner.
I've just recently dedided to study speaking Spanigh in my home as opposed to a school enviornment.It helps that I have a spanish speaking partner.I have purchased more than quit a few home study books, tapes and Softwareprograms. But have been dissappointed with them. They are all gearedtowards people who already have a good grasp of the language.This bookwas a blessing. It is perfect for the True Beginner. If other books leaveyou thinking, "I'll never learn how to speak Spanish", this bookwill give you some incentive to continue learning. I have dusted off someof those old spanish books and getting my monies worth by using them.:-) ... Read more

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Students are fully immersed in thoughtful exploration of the values, purposes, and interpretations of African works of art. From time-honoured traditions to modern daily life, art is presented as an integral part of culture. ... Read more

Product Description
The Historical Dictionary of Architecture provides information on architects like Frank Lloyd Wright, Tadao Ando, Leon Battista Alberti, Filippo Brunelleschi, Michelangelo, and Konstantin Stepanovich Melnikov, as well as on famous structures like the Acropolis, the Colosseum, the Forbidden City, Machu Pichu, Notre Dame, the Pyramids of Giza, Stonehenge, and the World Trade Center. The dictionary examines the development of architecture over the centuries through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on the major architects, well-known buildings, time periods, styles, building types, and materials in world architecture. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more