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Author: Emma Ferrett, CED definer
Date: June 30, 2025

How do you start writing a dictionary?

The Strathy Language Unit has partnered with the forthcoming . We’re working hard on drafting definitions, spellings, pronunciations and etymologies for all the words in Canadian English. We begin with the letter Q (find out  from our editor-in-chief, John Chew). Q, of course, stands for question—and as you’ll see, I have many.

How do you start defining a word? Some words are easy—there are only so many ways to define kilogram, toonie or pencil. But what about the trickier words? Truth? Quantum theory? Nothing?

There are also words that seem simple but are hard to define because they are such basic units of the English language. Like sit. Try to define sit. It seems to me that we need to define this by the way our bodies are positioned when we sit. So, we need to talk about butts. Is it ok to say butt in the dictionary? Buttocks? Haunches? Ass?? And what about when nonhumans sit? Can a snail sit? And would it have a butt with which to do so?

Clearly, defining becomes troublesome very quickly and it’s easy to fall into hours of research trying to figure out a concrete difference between marsh and bog or to find a usable example of someone using the word quintuplicately…

So, if you’re interested in how dictionaries are put together and how we define the elements of our world, watch out for new posts here in “Anatomy of an Entry”. In this series, I’ll examine a single entry from the letter Q and reveal how we draft definitions in the Canadian English Dictionary. And if you want to know the difference between quotidian, daily and everyday, or how many types of quails there are, or if a quiche is still a quiche if its sweet, you’re in the right place.
 

Basil (Strathy Liaison to the Canadian English Dictionary) contemplating the definition of "cheese tax".