Oxford Thesaurus of English

What is Roget's Thesaurus?

Originally published in 1852 by the scientist and physician Peter Roget, Roget's Thesaurus was the first type of thesaurus to exist. It contains lists of words with similar meanings which are organized according to a system of thinking about the world and words devised by Roget.

For example, if you want synonyms for the word 'quickly' these will be found in section 829 of the book, which is entitled 'Instantaneousness'. Section 829, along with hundreds of other sections relating to abstract concepts such as 'Newness', 'Repulsion', and 'Normality', is, in turn, part of 'Class Fourteen: The Mind and Ideas'. There are 15 classes altogether, covering broad areas such as 'Language', 'Feelings', 'Arts', 'Occupations and Crafts', and 'Behaviour and the Will'.

As well as the main text covering the 15 classes and 1,000+ sections, a Roget's Thesaurus has an index. This is an alphabetical list of all the words listed in the main text. So you will normally need to look in two places in a Roget's Thesaurus to find synonyms for a word: first the index, and then the relevant section(s).

In an A-Z Thesaurus you look up the word in its normal alphabetical place and there you will find a list of alternative words: fast, swiftly, rapidly, briskly, speedily, and so on. Generally it's much quicker to find alternative words using an A-Z Thesaurus compared to a Roget, because most of the time you need to look in only one place.

Another advantage of an A-Z Thesaurus is that it is likely to be more compact than a Roget, because it only lists the words once. A Roget on the other hand repeats all the words, once in the 'concept' section and once in the index. A Roget's Thesaurus is an interesting curiosity, and it is certainly an interesting record of modes of thought of the 19th century. But for practical help in the 21st century for all types of writing, whether at school, at home, or in the office, and for word games, the A-Z Thesaurus is the one to choose for ease of use and accessibility. With an A-Z Thesaurus, you can fit more alternative words into a smaller number of pages: so it's more convenient and better value for money.

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