What's the relationship between various Oxford dictionaries? (OED vs ODO vs ODE vs NOAD) [closed]

Things I know so far:

1. The OED is the Oxford English Dictionary. It's widely regarded as the definitive record of the English language.

2. The ODE is the Oxford Dictionary of English, previously The New Oxford Dictionary of English (NODE).

3. The NOAD is the New Oxford American Dictionary.

4. The ODO is Oxford Dictionaries Online but has since been rebranded as Oxford Living Dictionaries. This might not be a separate dictionary and may be an umbrella term for the ODE and NOAD?

I believe all of these are published by Oxford University Press.

And I believe Google has licensed ODE and NOAD for its definitions. (And Apple and Microsoft too.)

I have a huge beef with those definitions so I'm trying to get clear on exactly which dictionary or dictionaries I'm complaining about and who publishes them.

PS: There's also the Oxford Dictionary of Current English. I haven't figured out yet if that's something distinct or another name for one of the ones above.

PPS: I think the OED and these other shoddy dictionaries are all published by Oxford University Press but are the same actual people responsible for them?

PPPS: More confusion to add to the mix:

• Defunct OAD
• Print: Oxford Dictionary of Current English
• Print: Shorter Oxford English Dictionary
• Print: New Oxford American Dictionary (Claims to be the most comprehensive, up-to-date coverage of current English. If this is the same as the online version of NOAD at OxfordDictionaries.com then that is lies. Is it the same?)
• Print: Concise Oxford English Dictionary
• Print: Canadian Oxford Dictionary

Solution 1:

There's an answer on the meta site (about not citing Google as a dictionary) that helps clarify the confusing situation with OED vs ODE etc: https://english.meta.stackexchange.com/a/11484/8015

Excerpt:

The ODE is a large single-volume dictionary which gives very good coverage of Present-Day English, including many examples taken from the corpus Oxford used to assemble the dictionary. The NOAD is a version of this dictionary, not quite as good, which focuses on American English. The ODE and NOAD are not called by these names online; instead, they've been rebranded as Oxford Dictionaries, or Oxford Living Dictionaries.

Whatever you call them, it's confusing. The OED is a very different dictionary – a large multi-volume historical dictionary, not specifically focused on Present-Day English – but the acronym is very similar to ODE, so they're easily confused. And the "Oxford Dictionaries" name is likewise confusing, as the OED is the most well-known Oxford dictionary, but it isn't available at the Oxford Dictionaries website.

So it's a bit of a mess.

Update: And I found an answer on the /r/kindle Subreddit (apparently Kindle also uses these crappy dictionaries!) about the difference between NOAD and ODE:

There are no major differences. The New Oxford American Dictionary (NOAD) is a substantial revision of the Oxford Dictionary of English (ODE, which is a British English dictionary). The biggest change for most users is that ODE uses the IPA system to give word pronunciations (this is the standard in linguistics for accurately representing speech sounds), while NOAD uses a re-spelling system, which is simpler to read and more commonly found in American dictionaries. ODE was revised for NOAD, with some spelling changes, new words found only in the US, and (rarely) some changes in the order of entries for the American market. Both have been revised at least two times for various new editions to keep them up to date.

The only reason to pick one over the other is to choose between an American and British English dictionary.

Solution 2:

There are two main streams of the Oxford University Press dictionaries (not including the country specific variants), and way too many variants of the dictionaries with too similar names (that even changed across editions to add to the confusion).

The Oxford English Dictionary series is aimed more at the historical use of the English language with words dating back to the 18th century (and earlier for selected literary uses such as Shakespeare and the Bible) and many example quotations. This series contains the following variants:

1. Oxford English Dictionary 2nd Edition (1989), which is 21,728 pages across 20 volumes, 6ft long, and weighs approximately 60Kg. It is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is.
2. Compact Oxford English Dictionary 2nd Edition (1991), which is the same content as the OED but reduced to hold nine pages per page in one volume of 2402 physical pages.
3. Shorter Oxford English Dictionary 6th Edition (2007), which is effectively an abridged version at 3804 pages across two volumes. It contains 600,000 entries and 80,000 quotations.

The Oxford Dictionary of English series focuses more on the contemporary and practical uses of the English language. This series contains the following variants:

1. Oxford Dictionary of English 3rd Edition (2010), containing 355,000 entries on 2112 pages. This version also contains around 11,000 encyclopaedic entries.
2. Concise Oxford English Dictionary 12th Edition (2011), with 240,000 entries on 1728 pages. This is currently the official UN and NATO international English dictionary.
3. Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English 3rd Edition (2008), containing 150,000 entries on 1264 pages. This contains additional information on English usage including grammar and a guide to correspondence.
4. Pocket Oxford English Dictionary 11th Edition (2013), containing 120,000 words on 1104 pages.
5. Paperback Oxford English Dictionary 7th Edition (2012), containing 120,000 entries on 1024 pages. This version has a "factfinder" section with famous people, countries, and scientific information.
6. Colour Oxford English Dictionary 3rd Edition (2011), containing over 90,000 entries on 848 pages. This version contains additional information on spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
7. Little Oxford English Dictionary 9th Edition (2006), containing 90,000 entries on 848 pages. This version also contains a "factfinder" section.
8. Oxford English Mini Dictionary 8th Edition (2013), containing 90,000 words on 672 pages.

Regarding the online Oxford dictionaries, these are largely based on this second series although with subscription fees you can access the first series, though free access is often available through local public library systems in the UK and US (with a library ID).