Oxford University Press’s new thesaurus is the result of 44 years of research.

The language and linguistic world is abuzz about The Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, released on October 27, 2009. Based on the Oxford English Dictionary, the new “HTOED” contains almost every word in English from Old English to the present, and is now the largest thesaurus in the world.

Here are some “fun facts to know and tell” about the brand new work, courtesy of the Oxford University Press blog:

“* It uses an entirely new thematic system of classification, with a detailed meaning structure that distinguishes between true synonyms and closely related words.

* There are approximately 800,000 meanings within the HTOED

* The largest category in the HTOED is “immediately” with 265 meanings

* The HTOED took 44 years to complete (started in 1965, published in 2009)

* In total, 230 people have worked on the project

* It’s taken approximately 320,000 hours to complete the HTOED – that’s the equivalent of 176 years

* The project has cost approximately £1.1million ($1.8million) – roughly 75p ($1.25) per meaning”

265 meanings in the “immediately” category? I think we may be onto something cultural there, as Anglo-Saxons are generally known for their respect of deadlines!

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