Grades 6, 7 and 8 - English Language - Middle School - The Dictionary / The Thesaurus — Flashcards

To find the meaning of a word, you would use a dictionary. 
 

The pronunciation tells us how a word is pronounced phonetically.  For example, let’s look at the word “bread.”

In the dictionary you will see the word bread followed by [bred].  The word in the brackets is giving you a hint of how the word should sound when spoken and does not deal with the correct spelling of the word.

A syllable is an uninterrupted segment of speech consisting of one vowel sounds.  A dictionary will show a word broken down into each of its syllable segments.  For example, let’s look at the word illustrate.  The dictionary will show the word as: il-lus-trate.  This tells us that the word has three syllables.

A thesaurus is a reference book of words. The words are generally grouped together according to similarity of meaning (containing synonyms and antonyms).  

The difference between dictionary and thesaurus:  A thesaurus differs from a dictionary in that a dictionary provides a word’s meaning or definition and lists words in alphabetical order. The thesaurus is a tool to help a writer find other words to use to express a similar meaning or message without having to overuse the same word or words over and over again.  It also provides a listing of words with an opposite meaning.