⇨ dic; dicknoun a dictionary. It has been suggested that this term was coined by, or within the family of, Scottish philologist and first lexicographer of the Oxford English Dictionary, Sir James Murray, 1837–1915; it would be nice if it were true. 'Dick', in the sense that someone who uses fine words is said to have 'swallowed the dick', is recorded in 1873 US, 1831