Editor’s Foreword to the Third Edition

This revised and enlarged Third Edition of -Ologies & -Isms contains more than 17,000 entries, an expansion in coverage of about 75% over that of the Second Edition. In addition to the thousands of additional terms and definitions, great effort has been taken to make the book more convenient to use. Most notably, perhaps, the thematic categories have been enhanced by the inclusion of numerous cross references, both between categories and from synonymous concepts to the actual categories themselves. These features are reflected in the Table of Thematic Categories, where all categories and cross references are listed. In the Index, all entries are listed alphabetically, with headwords referred to the category or categories under which they appear, and run-on entries shown with reference to both the category and (in this edition) the headword under which they are found.

In general, every effort has been made to provide a reference work that will gain in usefulness by application. As those familiar with the earlier editions of -Ologies & -Isms are aware, words of similar semantic and syntactic form have been included, even though they do not end in -ology or -ism: there are many words ending in -graphy, -mancy, -phobia, -metry, -ics, and other substantive suffixes.

Further information on the features and approach of -Ologies & -Isms can be found in the newly added How to Use This Book section, pp. 11-12.

With its greatly increased coverage and added features, this Third Edition of -Ologies & -Isms will, we trust, be seen as far superior to its predecessors. Still, we urge everyone, whether familiar with previous editions or not, to examine the dictionary critically, and we encourage users to submit suggestions for further improvements to the publisher.

Laurence Urdang

Essex, ConnecticutOctober 1985