Use the following template or our MLA Citation Generator to cite a dictionary entry. For help with other source types, like books, PDFs, or websites, check out our other guides. To have your reference list or bibliography automatically made for you, try our free citation generator.
Place this part in your bibliography or reference list at the end of your assignment.
"Title of Entry." Dictionary Name, Publisher, Year Published or Updated, URL or Page Number.
"Amphionic, adj." Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, 2021, www.oed.com/view/Entry/79633980.
Place this part right after the quote or reference to the source in your assignment.
("Title of Entry")
The OED defines the word as of or relating to Amphion, one of the sons of Zeus ("Amphionic").
Since a dictionary does not have an author, when you are citing an entry, be sure to use the title of the entry within the in-text citation. Use the word “def” to denote definition, and include the definition number that you are referring to.
Format
(“Term,” def. number)
Example
(“Metaphor,” def. 2)
Appendix 2 of the MLA 9 handbook provides works cited entries for dictionary entries, both for online dictionaries and print dictionaries.
Format
“Word, nature of the word. (number of explanation referred to).” Dictionary Name, Year, URL.
“Word, nature of the word. (number of explanation referred to).” Dictionary Name, # ed., Publisher, Year, p. number.
Examples
“Author, N. (1).” The American Heritage Dictionary, 2022, https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=author.
“Author, N. (1).” The American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed., Collins Reference, 2018, p. 45.