A Brief Guide On How to Cite a Dictionary in MLA

MLA is a format that is widely spread in academic writing in humanities and liberal arts. However, MLA can be used with any type of writing and with any type of source correspondingly.

The style has got its own core elements of referencing that are required for every source, not only for dictionaries. You should learn them in order to know how to cite a dictionary definition in mla:

• Name. You should begin with the surname, separate it with a comma and then write the rest of the name as it is given in the source. At the finish, you should place a period
• Title. After the author’s name, the title of the resource follows. It should be written in italics (books, websites, dictionaries) or within quotation marks (journals, songs, movies, etc.)
• Container title. It is used when you want to cite a poem, for example, which is situated in a collection. Container title follows the title of the poem and is written in Italics. The date and the edition will concern the container
• The edition is mentioned if you use not the primal edition of the source
• The number follows the edition if the resource is a part of a set of books, newspapers, etc
• Then the publisher should be mentioned. If there are two or more of them and you have used them all, mention them and separate with a slash (/)
• The date of publication should contain only the year. If the source was published several times, use the most relevant date. However, if the matter in your writing concerns the original appearance of the source, you need to set the full date, with the day and the month
• Location helps readers to find the source quickly. If a source is a book or a printed material, indicate pages. If it is a website, write an URL, and if it is a physical object, mention the place

How to Cite and Make a Reference in MLA

The way on how to cite a dictionary definition in text mla style requires knowing the author and the year of publication. You need to place them in brackets after a quote. The proper citing in mla will depend on their location mostly.  Begin with the author’s surname and name, continue with the title of the entry, if it is present, then set the title of the book.

If the author is unknown, begin with the title of the entry or the resource. If the source has got an editor, mention him after the title of the resource beginning with words “edited by…”. Then define the edition and the volume number, if needed. Mention the publisher and the year of publication and set the pages of location.

If the book is situated on the internet, you need to write the URL instead of pages and the date of your access to the page.

If you are trying to cite Wikipedia, mention the title of the article or the entry, then the full name of Wikipedia. Write the date of the last modification, the URL and the date of the last view of the article. This way of citing online dictionaries will be also useful if you need to know how to cite google dictionary mla, for instance.

Now the question on how to cite a dictionary entry in mla is not a problem for you. With this information, you can enrich your academic writing with printed entries and articles from online dictionaries.