̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Press

John Siberch: Cambridge’s first printer (and record debtor?)

zs332 — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 10:33:00 +0000

2021 is the 500th anniversary of the first works printed in Cambridge

Cambridge Dictionary names 'perseverance' Word of the Year 2021

ta385 — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 08:00:00 +0000

Perseverance has been looked up more than 243,000 times on the website in 2021, the first time it has made a noticeable appearance.

Defined by the dictionary as ‘continued effort to do or achieve something, even when this is difficult or takes a long time’, the word’s stellar performance this year may have as much to do with NASA as the pandemic. A spike of 30,487 searches for perseverance occurred between 19–25 February 2021, after NASA’s Perseverance Rover made its final descent to Mars on 18 February.

Wendalyn Nichols, Cambridge Dictionary Publishing Manager, said: “It made sense that lookups of 'perseverance' spiked at this time. Cambridge Dictionary is the top website in the world for learners of English, and perseverance is not a common word for students of English to have in their vocabulary. We often see spikes in lookups of words associated with current events when those words are less familiar.”

In the following months, however, perseverance continued to be looked up more frequently on the site than ever before. Nichols said: “Just as it takes perseverance to land a rover on Mars, it takes perseverance to face the challenges and disruption to our lives from COVID-19, climate disasters, political instability and conflict. We appreciated that connection, and we think Cambridge Dictionary users do, too.”

Further evidence that words looked up on Cambridge Dictionary often reflect world events is that in January searches for insurrection, impeachment, inauguration and acquit all spiked as the world closely followed the US presidential election.

In 2020, ‘quarantine’ defeated 'lockdown' and 'pandemic' to be crowned Word of the Year, attracting more than 183,000 views.

People use Cambridge Dictionary to develop their English language skills, and those who look up perseverance will find more than just the definition of the word. A new Cambridge Thesaurus article on perseverance goes beyond listing synonyms to explain the nuanced differences in meaning between perseverance, determination, persistence, doggedness, single-mindedness, tenacity, resolve, will, and the US term stick-to-it-iveness.

̽��ֱ��Cambridge team have also created a new list of words about being determined for English learners on Cambridge Dictionary +Plus. Research shows that many people learn new vocabulary more effectively when they have a record of it, so they can go back to study and test themselves. This word list includes vocabulary related to perseverance, so English language learners can easily find out more about the word of the year while simultaneously expanding their vocabulary.

Find out more about Cambridge Dictionary Word of the Year 2021

Perseverance, a word which captures the undaunted will of people across the world to never give up, despite the many challenges of the last 12 months, is Cambridge Dictionary’s Word of the Year 2021.

Just as it takes perseverance to land a rover on Mars, it takes perseverance to face challenges and disruption to our lives

Wendalyn Nichols

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover takes a selfie over a rock nicknamed 'Rochette' on 10 September 2021

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

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Epic dictionary re-defines Ancient Greek including the words which made the Victorians blush

ta385 — Thu, 27 May 2021 05:00:00 +0000

Recently published by Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Press, the Lexicon provides fresh definitions and translations gleaned by re-reading most of Ancient Greek literature from its foundations in Homer, right through to the early second century AD.

Introducing up-to-date English, the new dictionary clarifies meanings that had become obscured by antiquated verbiage in Liddell and Scott’s Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon which was first published in 1889.

Editor-in-Chief, Professor James Diggle of Queens' College said: “We don’t call βλαύτη 'a kind of slipper worn by fops' as in the Intermediate Lexicon. In the Cambridge Lexicon, this becomes 'a kind of simple footwear, slipper'.”

̽��ֱ��team has also rescued words from Victorian attempts at modesty. “We spare no blushes,” said Diggle. “We do not translate the verb χέζω as 'ease oneself, do one's need'. We translate it as 'to shit'. Nor do we explain 'βινέω as 'inire, coire, of illicit intercourse', but simply translate it by the f-word.”

̽��ֱ��two volumes are set to become instantly indispensable for Classics students as well as an important reference work for scholars.

̽��ֱ��team used online databases – the Perseus Digital Library and later the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae – to make this huge corpus more easily accessible and searchable.

̽��ֱ��researchers pored over every word, working steadily through the 24 letters of the Greek alphabet to build up a clear, modern and accessible guide to the meanings of Ancient Greek words and their development through different contexts and authors. ̽��ֱ��Lexicon features around 37,000 Greek words drawn from the writings of around 90 different authors and set out across more than 1,500 pages.

̽��ֱ��project, which began in 1997, was the brainchild of the renowned Classical philologist and lexicographer John Chadwick (1920–98). ̽��ֱ��initial plan was to revise the Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon. An abridged version of a lexicon published in 1843, it has never been revised, but until now has remained the lexicon most commonly used by students in English schools and universities. It was hoped that the project might be completed by a single editor within five years.

Diggle was then chair of the project's advisory committee. He said: "Soon after work began it became clear that it was not possible to revise the Intermediate Lexicon; it was too antiquated in concept, design and content. It was better to start afresh by compiling a new lexicon.

“We didn’t realise at the time the magnitude of the task, and it was only because of advances in technology that we were able to take it on. We then had to appoint additional editorial staff and raise a huge amount of financial support. It took us over 20 years because we decided that if we were going to do it we must do it thoroughly.

“At the outset of the project I undertook to read everything which the editors wrote. I soon realised that if we were ever to finish I had better start to write entries myself, and for the last 15 years or more I was fully occupied with it and did little else – it took over my life.”

̽��ֱ��Cambridge Greek Lexicon takes a fundamentally different approach to its Victorian predecessor. While entries in the Liddell and Scott lexicon usually start with a word’s earliest appearance in the literature, the Cambridge team realised this might not give its original, or root, meaning. Instead, they begin their entries with that root meaning and then in numbered sections trace the word’s development in different contexts.

Opening summaries help ease the reader into the longer entries, setting out the order of what is to follow, while different fonts signpost the way, helping the reader to distinguish between definitions, translations, and other material, such as grammatical constructions.

̽��ֱ��team tackled countless other interesting and challenging words, including πόλις, which will be familiar to many in its English form 'polis'. Diggle said: “Our article shows the variety of senses which the word can have: in its earliest usage 'citadel, acropolis', then (more generally) 'city, town', also 'territory, land', and (more specifically, in the classical period) 'city as a political entity, city-state', also (with reference to the occupants of a city) 'community, citizen body'.”

“'Verbs can be the most difficult items to deal with, especially if they are common verbs, with many different but interrelated uses. ἔχω, (ékhō) is one of the commonest Greek verbs, whose basic senses are 'have' and 'hold'. Our entry for this verb runs to 55 sections. If a verb has as many applications as this, you need to provide the reader with signposts, to show how you have organised the material, to show that you have organised the numbered sections in groups, and to show that these groups follow logically one from the other.”

Professor Robin Osborne, Chair of the Faculty of Classics, said: “ ̽��ֱ��Faculty takes enormous pride in this dictionary and in the way Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Press have aided us and produced it. It’s a beautiful piece of book making.”

“We invested in the Lexicon to make a contribution to the teaching of Greek over the next century. This puts into the hands of students a resource that will enable them access to Ancient Greek more securely and easily.

“It is hugely important that we continue to engage with the literature of Ancient Greece, not as texts frozen in a past world, but which engage with the world in which we live. There’s been continual engagement with them since antiquity, so we are also engaging with that history, which is the history of European thought.”

̽��ֱ��project’s attention to detail also extended to the Press and the typesetters, who took immense care to ensure that consulting the Lexicon would be an easy and pleasurable experience, right down to a specially-created text design. Diggle and his fellow editors inputted their entries for the Lexicon in xml, using a complex system of more than 100 digital tags to ensure each element was automatically rendered in the correct format.

This also allowed for a constant feedback loop between the editors, the Press and the typesetters, with proofs reviewed and corrected, and the style and content honed as work progressed.

Michael Sharp, the Lexicon’s Publisher, said: “ ̽��ֱ��Cambridge Greek Lexicon is one of the most important Classics books we have ever published. It represents a milestone in the history of Classics, the ̽��ֱ�� and the Press. I am elated, relieved and immensely proud of the part the Press has played in supporting this project.”

Professor Diggle said: “ ̽��ֱ��moment of greatest relief and joy was when I was able to sign off the very, very final proofs and say to the Press ‘It’s finished. You can print it’. You can’t imagine what it was like, to realise that we had finally got there; I literally wept with joy.”

For 23 years a team from Cambridge’s Faculty of Classics has scoured Ancient Greek literature for meanings to complete the Cambridge Greek Lexicon, a monumental piece of scholarship and the most innovative dictionary of its kind in almost 200 years.

It took over my life

James Diggle

Sir Cam

Professor James Diggle

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A strange kind of intimacy: executive education in a pandemic and beyond

skbf2 — Tue, 18 May 2021 10:10:22 +0000

You don't have to get a place at Cambridge to study here. ̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� also provides executive education and lifelong learning to lots of different people in lots of different subjects. Moving all this activity online during a pandemic has been both tough and rewarding and has led to the development of a new range of online courses for professionals, Cambridge Advance Online.

Surviving birth

lw355 — Thu, 10 Dec 2020 09:00:28 +0000

Researchers at one of the busiest maternity hospitals in the world aim to help more women survive complications giving birth.

Cambridge Dictionary names 'quarantine’ Word of the Year 2020

ta385 — Tue, 24 Nov 2020 08:00:00 +0000

Quarantine was the only word to rank in the top five for both search spikes (28,545) and overall views (more than 183,000 by early November), with the largest spike in searches seen the week of 18-24 March, when many countries around the world went into lockdown as a result of COVID-19.

̽��ֱ��Cambridge Dictionary editors have also tracked how people are using quarantine, and have discovered a new meaning emerging: a general period of time in which people are not allowed to leave their homes or travel freely, so that they do not catch or spread a disease. Research shows the word is being used synonymously with lockdown, particularly in the United States, to refer to a situation in which people stay home to avoid catching the disease.

This new sense of quarantine has now been added to the Cambridge Dictionary, and marks a shift from the existing meanings that relate to containing a person or animal suspected of being contagious: a specific period of time in which a person or animal that has a disease, or may have one, must stay or be kept away from others in order to prevent the spread of the disease.

Wendalyn Nichols, Cambridge Dictionary Publishing Manager, said:

" ̽��ֱ��words that people search for reveal not just what is happening in the world, but what matters most to them in relation to those events. Neither coronavirus nor COVID-19 appeared among the words that Cambridge Dictionary users searched for most this year. We believe this indicates that people have been fairly confident about what the virus is.

"Instead, users have been searching for words related to the social and economic impacts of the pandemic, as evidenced not just by quarantine but by the two runners-up on the shortlist for Word of the Year: lockdown, and pandemic itself."

Cambridge Dictionary is the top dictionary website for learners of English in the world. As well as definitions, the Cambridge Dictionary shows how words are used in real-world contexts. Its ‘About Words’ blog, written by language usage experts, helps learners gain confidence in using vocabulary related to specific topics.

̽��ֱ��most highly viewed blog post this year was Quarantine, carriers and face masks: the language of the coronavirus, which had almost 80,000 views in the first six weeks after it was posted on February 26, and now ranks as the ninth most viewed 'About Words' post in the nearly ten years that the blog has been live. ̽��ֱ��post covers a range of related terms, such as infectious, contagious, carriers, super-spreaders, and symptoms, as well as phrases such as contract a virus, a spike in cases, contain the spread, and develop a vaccine.

̽��ֱ��Cambridge Dictionary editors regularly monitor a wide range of sources for the new words and meanings that are added monthly to the online dictionary. On the ‘New Words’ blog, potential new additions are posted weekly for readers to cast their vote on whether they feel these words should be added.

In a recent poll, 33% of respondents said quaranteam - combining quarantine and team, meaning a group of people who go into quarantine together - should be added to the dictionary. Other suggestions include the portmanteau words quaranteen, coronial and lockstalgia.

‘Quarantine’ has defeated 'lockdown' and 'pandemic' to be crowned Word of the Year 2020 after data showed it to be one of the most highly searched for on the Cambridge Dictionary.

Users have been searching for words related to the social and economic impacts of the pandemic

Wendalyn Nichols

Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Man sat looking out of a window at a giant representation of COVID-19. Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

About Cambridge Dictionary

Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Press has been publishing dictionaries for learners of English since 1995. Cambridge Dictionary began offering these dictionaries completely free of charge online in 1999. Cambridge Dictionary is the top learner dictionary website on the planet, serving 2.8 billion page views a year – and growing.

̽��ֱ��Cambridge Dictionary editors monitor a wide range of sources for the new words and meanings that are added monthly to the online dictionary: traditional media, blogs and social media posts, and user lookups from the website itself.

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New partnership to provide expertise on global education reform

ta385 — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 10:45:00 +0000

Cambridge Assessment and Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Press have launched a new unit, the Cambridge Partnership for Education, that will draw on the collective knowledge and global network of the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge to support governments, schools, teachers and learners in creating quality public education systems.

Jane Mann, Managing Director of Cambridge Partnership for Education said: "Education underpins our economies and societies. It’s the single most effective solution for many of the problems we face including poverty, health, climate change and conflict. As the global pandemic intensifies these challenges, revitalising education systems will fuel individual, national and international recovery. Our new team is uniquely placed to achieve that mission with partners around the world.”

As the recent Cambridge report 'What have we learned about the COVID-19 impact on education so far?' showed, education systems in all countries were ill-equipped to adapt to a global pandemic, and existing inequalities in public education systems were exposed and increased. This year saw schools closed in over 190 countries, affecting over 1.5 billion learners. 24 million children may never return to the classroom.

Countries now need to evaluate whether the solutions put in place during the lockdown have had an impact, assessing what’s worked and what hasn’t, in order to start planning more effectively for medium and longer-term solutions.

̽��ֱ��pandemic has also caused economic downturns around the world, widening existing inequalities. Half of the global workforce is at risk, leaving many without the skills they will need to return to new jobs. Countries will need to invest in education and skills to rebuild their economies at a time when government spending will be under intense pressure.

̽��ֱ��new and expanded offer from the Cambridge Partnership for Education will help governments and non-governmental organisations reimagine and rebuild education systems, from research and planning to implementation and impact evaluation. The team brings decades of trusted experience working on education from every angle – curriculum, assessment, learning materials and teacher training – to help partners reach their goals, speed up progress and achieve value for money.

Peter Phillips, Chief Executive of Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Press, said: “For the first time, Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Press, Cambridge Assessment and our ̽��ֱ�� will combine the full depth and breadth of our education expertise to partner with governments and non-governmental organisations. ̽��ֱ��creation of an integrated team and one single point of contact to access all of our capabilities and services meets our partners’ needs and means together we can improve education systems more effectively.”

Although the disruption caused by COVID has brought challenges in education into sharp focus in many areas, Cambridge was already supporting governments to develop their education systems well before the pandemic hit. ̽��ֱ��move towards competency-based education, new forms of assessment, digital literacy and initiatives to tackle the shortage of trained teachers, among other developments, have seen Cambridge partner with ministries around the world, reaching over 20 million learners worldwide in 2019 alone.

̽��ֱ��individual teams who will form the new unit have developed strong reputations for delivering excellence for clients across a variety of issues and local contexts. Recent achievements include an in-depth analysis of the national curriculum of Ethiopia, supporting improvements in English teaching with the Malaysia Ministry of Education, supporting the goal of a bilingual population in Panama, and pioneering a new Learning Passport with Microsoft and UNICEF which harnesses the latest technological capabilities to support education for displaced children.

̽��ֱ��Partnership will draw on the knowledge and expertise of more than 6,000 employees in 50 offices worldwide, from Cambridge to New Delhi, from Oman to Kenya.

Saul Nassé, Chief Executive of Cambridge Assessment, said: “This is a challenging time for the world and a vital moment for education. We could not have predicted the stress education systems, governments and people around the globe would face in 2020. Our new unit brings together our collective strength and expertise in education at a moment when we can make a significant contribution to the world’s learning recovery.”

A new Cambridge Partnership for Education will help governments and organisations across the world reimagine public education systems for the future.

Revitalising education systems will fuel individual, national and international recovery

Jane Mann

Cambridge Partnership for Education

Students in Oman reading with their teacher

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CUP opens access to support learning and research

ta385 — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 08:30:02 +0000

Higher education textbooks and reference works have been made freely available to students online through their universities, while coronavirus research has been placed into a free online collection, with new articles fast-tracked through the peer review and publishing process to join them.

Teachers, pupils and parents are also being given free online access to the Press’s schoolbooks, along with worksheets and instructional videos. Blogs are being constantly updated with new content to support those adjusting to teaching and learning remotely.

Peter Phillips, CUP’s Chief Executive, said: “ ̽��ֱ��pandemic is disrupting normal life almost everywhere. It’s vital that we do what we can to minimise its effects on learning and research, but also to get world-class research on this virus into the hands of anyone who needs it.”

Action has been taken across all three of the Press’s publishing groups.

Academic publishing has made more than 700 textbooks in HTML format available online to students through their university libraries. In addition, existing customers are being offered free access to key reference works on request to help them overcome the disruption caused by the global response to the pandemic.

At the same time, there is free access to a growing collection of COVID-19 and coronavirus-related research on Cambridge Core – the online home of the Press’s academic books and journals. New research is being added all the time, with editorial processes adapted to ensure publication within 24 hours of receipt of the accepted manuscript, so the most-up-to-date information is shared as rapidly as possible. Press-published ‘Gold’ Open Access journals are also waiving the normal Article Processing Charges for COVID-19 or coronavirus-related research up until June 2020, meaning there is no cost to the authors or their institutions.

̽��ֱ��Press has also joined more than 30 leading publishers in committing to making all of its COVID-19 and coronavirus-related publications, and the available data supporting them, immediately accessible in PubMed Central (PMC) and other public repositories. More information here.

ELT publishing group has launched a global campaign – Supporting Every Teacher – working with colleagues in Cambridge Assessment English to deliver free, online content to support teachers and learners. Begun in March, the campaign has already reached two million people, with resources on offer including free digital access to the popular Cambridge English Exam Boosters series, which support those preparing for English language examinations. Teachers can also find daily content on the Press’s English Language Teaching blog, ‘World of Better Learning’, to ease the transition to home learning.

Education group are also providing support for primary and secondary teachers around the world. There is free access to more than 100 secondary school textbooks, specially-designed worksheet bundles for pupils aged five to 11 and Penpals handwriting videos for those aged three to six. Secondary school resources can be accessed through the Press’s digital education platform Cambridge Elevate. This includes material covering Cambridge IGCSE, Cambridge International AS & A Level as well as several UK GCSE and A Level texts. ̽��ֱ��Press is also rolling out free access to its interactive maths resources GCSE Mathematics Online in the UK and Cambridge Online Mathematics for Lower Secondary Checkpoint, IGCSE and A Level Mathematics, globally.

Further support is available from colleagues already in touch with schools around the world to provide assistance when moving to or using online and blended learning products.

More info about the Press’s response to COVID-19 here.

Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Press is providing free access to a huge range of books, research and learning materials for teachers, students and researchers impacted by COVID-19.

It’s vital that we do what we can to minimise the virus' effects on learning and research

Peter Phillips

Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Press

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