Cit
A citizen; an inhabitant of a city; a pert townsman; -- used contemptuously.
Academic Dictionary
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Open the thesaurus →Word origins and etymology
Follow words through older languages, changing meanings and the historical routes that brought them into English.
Explore word origins →Academic writing language
Make claims carefully, connect evidence to argument and choose language that is precise without becoming inflated.
Use the academic tools →Professional vocabulary
Write clearer emails, recommendations, reports, CV achievements and messages that lead to action.
Improve workplace writing →Connected words and subjects
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Worth knowing today
Open a word for more than its definition.
These entries change each day. They are selected from active dictionary entries with useful definitions, then presented with direct routes to both the entry and its thesaurus connections.
Deficit
Deficiency in amount or quality; a falling short; lack; as, a deficit in taxes, revenue, etc.
Responsibility
The state of being responsible, accountable, or answerable, as for a trust, debt, or obligation.
Ricinelaidic
Pertaining to, or designating, an isomeric modification of ricinoleic acid obtained as a white crystalline solid.
Matross
Formerly, in the British service, a gunner or a gunner's mate; one of the soldiers in a train of artillery, who assisted the gunners in loading, firing, and spongin…
Scab
An incrustation over a sore, wound, vesicle, or pustule, formed by the drying up of the discharge from the diseased part.
This week’s guided exploration
English: A Language Built by Borrowing
From Norse skies to Arabic algorithms and American chocolate.
Follow the routes through which trade, conquest, scholarship and migration expanded English vocabulary.
Learn words together
Understand the subject, not only the entry.
Word clusters reveal distinctions and relationships that a single definition cannot show. Use them to build a fuller vocabulary around a theme or discipline.
Connected vocabulary
Evaluating evidence quality
Vocabulary for judging whether evidence is credible, transparent and applicable.
9 connected words → Connected vocabularyResearch design
Core concepts used to design, compare and interpret research studies.
8 connected words → Connected vocabularyCautious academic claims
Words that calibrate certainty and avoid overstating evidence.
8 connected words → Connected vocabularySupporting a claim
Words for supplying evidence, confirmation and reasoned support.
9 connected words → Connected vocabularyCommonly confused words
Frequently mixed-up words explained through contrast and examples.
10 connected words → Connected vocabularyBetter words for important
Alternatives to important organised by necessity, influence, urgency and consequence.
9 connected words →
History inside language
Words carry the journeys that made them.
These short etymology stories are drawn from editorial editions and refreshed each week. Open the full entry to continue from origin to present-day meaning.
Featured archive
Return to a subject whenever it becomes useful.
Guided editions organise related vocabulary around an idea, period or field. The lead edition changes, but the complete archive remains available.
Keep exploring
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Search for a definition, compare synonyms, follow an origin or explore a group of connected terms. Academic Dictionary is designed to move from finding a word to understanding it and using it with confidence.