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Dictionary and glossary are two terms that are often confused due to the similarity between their meanings, but there is a difference between the two words.
Dictionary
The word ″dictionary″ was derived from the Latin ″dictionarium″ or ″dictionarius″ which means ″manual or word book″.
A dictionary lists all or the most common words (in alphabetical order) in a given language and provides the meaning and pronunciation of each. It is not limited to words in a particular field. It is interesting to note that a dictionary also contains the use of words.
Glossary
The word ″glossary″ was derived from the Latin ″glossarium″ which means ″explanation of a difficult word″.
A glossary is a list of terms: words, abbreviations, acronyms, etc., that appears in a specific chapter. It is usually added at the end of a chapter. This is done to facilitate the understanding of the meanings of the difficult words included in the chapter.
If you want to find out about the best online dictionaries, check out our article on this topic: The 3 best online dictionaries.
If you want to find out about the importance of a glossary, check out our article on this topic: The importance of a glossary.
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