Roget's Thesaurus Online

Origins of Roget's Thesaurus

Considered the leading authority in thesauri, Roget's Thesaurus has not been out of print since its original publication in 1852. It was compiled by Doctor Peter Mark Roget (1779-1869), who began the first thesaurus in 1805. A London-born doctor, Roget retired from medicine and lecturing in 1840 to work full time on what would become known as Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases.

The latest edition, published by Houghton Mifflin, is known as Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition. It can be found online through several websites including YourDictionary -- simply use the dictionary search box on any page to find Roget's thesaurus results along with your dictionary definition.

For more historical information on Roget and his thesaurus, visit the following websites:

• The Karpeles Manuscript - See part of the original manuscript that is held by The Karpeles Manuscript Library.
• Roget's Thesaurus - View and search Roget's Thesaurus using his original six-category system, complete with subdivisions.
• Peter Mark Roget - Learn more historical facts about the man behind the famous thesaurus.

Advantages of Using Online Thesauri

Using an online thesaurus such as Roget's has several advantages. First and foremost, you'll save money by not having to purchase a volume at a bookstore.

Secondly, having a thesaurus bookmarked makes it easy to look up items when you're using a word processor to prepare your document.

Finally, by keeping several thesauri bookmarked, you can compare results and get a wider choice of word substitutions. Additionally, most online thesauri link the word replacements back to their own definitions and substitutions, making it easy to find the word you really want to use.

YourDictionary and Roget's Thesaurus

YourDictionary.com has Roget's Thesaurus built right into the word definitions. To access the thesaurus, follow these simple steps:

1. Type the word for which you need synonyms into the search box on the homepage (for this example, "honest" will be used), on the Dictionary-Thesaurus Lookup.
2. Click on "GO" or hit the return/enter key on your keyboard.
3. Scroll down past the "Hear It" and "Honest Definition" to find "Honest Synonyms".
4. Read through the synonyms to find the one which applies to how you want to use "honest," then choose the one which most appropriately fits your needs.

The following illustration should demonstrate how to use a thesaurus to replace a word.

• In the sentence "Johnny and Mary wrote a great essay," the word great needs to be substituted for a stronger word to illustrate the teacher's point.
• Look up the word great at yourDictionary.com. Scroll down to the "great synonyms" section. The correct usage in this case would be found under number three, an informal use meaning "excellent."
• A suitable word substitution would be excellent, because it conveys a stronger opinion than great did. The sentence will now read "Johnny and Mary wrote an excellent essay."

Other Sources of Roget's Thesaurus Online

While Roget's Thesaurus contains the same words regardless of the version used, you may find one website's format to be more user-friendly. Therefore, you may want to check out several different sites to find the one that best fits your needs.

Roget's Thesaurus can be found online at the following websites:

• Yahoo! Education References - Search by category or alphabetically. The preface, introduction, guide, and more to Roget's is linked via this page. The alphabetical searching is straightforward.
• Bartleby.com - Search categorically or alphabetically. Using the "Search" box for a word will result in a listing of results and where the result was found. While a bit confusing to look at as a whole, you can click on the link to the most related word to find further synonyms.
• Project Gutenberg - Download the 1991 release of Roget's Thesaurus for free.
• The ARTFL Project - Search the 1911 version of Roget's Thesaurus. Note that some modern words may not be found. Follow instructions listed for full