Have you used a definition of a word in your essay or assignment that you found in an online dictionary? You know that you need to reference it – but you can’t see an author, and you can’t see a year.

• If a work has no author use the title in its place, that is, start your reference with the Title of the Entry, and use the title in your citation.

• Sometimes you will also find that there is no date on the webpage. When this happen use (n.d.) instead of the year; n.d. stands for No Date.

• Next, give the Title of the Dictionary, in italics.

• End your reference with the “how to find it” information, which will be its URL.

For example:

Thistel-tak. (n.d.). Middle English Dictionary. Retrieved from http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/m/mec/med-idx?size=First+100&type=headword&q1=thistel-tak&rgxp=constrained

Your in-text citation will be (“Thistel-tak”, n.d.).

• Some online dictionaries helpfully tell you the date of the entry, for example:

Triskaidekaphobia. (1986). Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/206391?redirectedFrom=Triskaidekaphobia#eid read more