How to Cite a Dictionary in APA 7th Edition

To cite a dictionary in APA 7, treat the definition as an entry in a reference work: the dictionary's author (usually the publisher, such as Merriam-Webster), the date, the word you looked up, then "In" and the italicized dictionary title. Online dictionaries that update continuously get "n.d." and a retrieval date. A Merriam-Webster entry looks like this:

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Culture. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved October 25, 2026, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/culture

In-text: (Merriam-Webster, n.d.) or Merriam-Webster (n.d.)

The rest of this guide covers the three decisions that change the reference (who counts as the author, which date to use, and whether you need a retrieval date), then works through eight dictionaries students actually cite, from the APA Dictionary of Psychology to a print collegiate edition with a page number.

The official APA 7 rule for a dictionary entry

The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.) puts dictionary entries in Section 10.3, alongside edited book chapters and other entries in reference works (pp. 326-329). The logic is the same as for a chapter: the entry is the part you cite, and the dictionary is the larger work it sits in. APA's own Common Reference Examples guide lists the online dictionary entry under Section 10.3 with this example:

American Psychological Association. (2018). Internet addiction. In APA dictionary of psychology. https://dictionary.apa.org/internet-addiction

That one reference shows every element in order:

There is no publisher element in that example. When the author and the publisher are the same organization, APA leaves the publisher out so the name does not appear twice. Most commercial dictionaries are in this position: Merriam-Webster writes and publishes Merriam-Webster, so the name appears once, as the author.

Decision 1: who is the author

Most dictionary entries carry no individual byline, so the author is the group responsible for the dictionary. The JCU Library APA 7 guide sets out the order to check:

1. If the entry is signed by a person, that person is the author.
2. If the entry is unsigned but the dictionary names editors, move the editors into the author position with (Ed.) or (Eds.).
3. If there are no named authors or editors, treat the company responsible (Merriam-Webster, Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press) as a corporate author.

Option 3 covers almost every free online dictionary. Option 2 is common with older print dictionaries and subject dictionaries, where the title page lists an editorial team.

Decision 2: which date

Print dictionaries take the year of the edition you used, from the copyright page. Online entries are trickier. Many online dictionaries show a copyright year in the footer, and that year belongs to the website as a whole. It is easy to mistake it for the entry's publication date. If the entry itself carries no date, write n.d.

Some online dictionaries do date their entries. The APA Dictionary of Psychology is one, which is why APA's example above has (2018) and no retrieval date.

Decision 3: whether you need a retrieval date

The manual's wording, as quoted by the Douglas College Library APA 7 guide, is: "When an online reference work is continuously updated and the versions are not archived, use 'n.d.' as the year of publication and include a retrieval date" (p. 328). The general rule for retrieval dates is in Section 9.16.

So n.d. and the retrieval date travel together. If you write n.d. for an online entry, add "Retrieved Month Day, Year, from" before the URL. If the entry has its own date, leave the retrieval date out. Print entries never take one.

The three patterns:

Online, continuously updated: Group Author. (n.d.). Entry word. In Title of dictionary. Retrieved Month Day, Year, from URL

Online, dated or archived entry: Group Author. (Year). Entry word. In Title of dictionary. URL

Print: Group Author. (Year). Entry word. In Title of dictionary (xx ed., p. xx).

Worked examples

Each example below gives the reference, then both in-text forms. The narrative form names the author in your sentence; the parenthetical form puts it at the end.

1. Merriam-Webster online

Merriam-Webster entries carry no date, and the site does not offer archived versions of an entry. That makes it the textbook n.d.-plus-retrieval-date case.

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Culture. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved October 25, 2026, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/culture

Parenthetical: (Merriam-Webster, n.d.)

Narrative: Merriam-Webster (n.d.) lists several senses of culture...

The dictionary title is Merriam-Webster.com dictionary, with the ".com" and with "dictionary" lowercase in the reference because APA uses sentence case for titles in the reference list. Library guides that give a Merriam-Webster example use this same title form.

2. APA Dictionary of Psychology

This one comes straight from APA's reference examples guide. The entry has a date, so it takes no retrieval date.

American Psychological Association. (2018). Internet addiction. In APA dictionary of psychology. https://dictionary.apa.org/internet-addiction

Parenthetical, first citation: (American Psychological Association [APA], 2018)

Parenthetical, later citations: (APA, 2018)

Narrative: The American Psychological Association (2018) defines internet addiction as...

Section 8.21 of the manual lets you abbreviate a group author in text if you define the abbreviation at first use and cite the group at least three times. In a psychology paper that already cites APA publications, the abbreviation saves space. In a paper that cites the dictionary once, spell the name out and skip the abbreviation. The reference list entry always uses the full name. For more on that rule, see how to cite a group author in APA 7.

3. Cambridge Dictionary online

Cambridge entries are undated and change over time, so the pattern matches Merriam-Webster. The Camosun College Library APA 7 guide gives this example, citing Section 10.3, example 47 of the manual:

Cambridge University Press. (n.d.). Upcycling. In Cambridge dictionary. Retrieved April 8, 2020, from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/upcycling

Parenthetical: (Cambridge University Press, n.d.)

Narrative: Cambridge University Press (n.d.) defines upcycling as...

One detail in the Camosun version is worth copying with care: APA puts a comma after the year in the retrieval date ("Retrieved April 8, 2020, from"), and some guides drop it. APA's own handout includes the comma in its retrieval-date example ("Retrieved October 17, 2025, from"), so include it.

4. Oxford English Dictionary

The OED is subscription-based and continuously revised, so most students should use n.d. and a retrieval date. The JCU guide gives the pattern with Oxford University Press as the group author:

Oxford University Press. (n.d.). Zombie. In Oxford English dictionary. Retrieved January 4, 2020, from [URL of the entry]

Parenthetical: (Oxford University Press, n.d.)

Narrative: Oxford University Press (n.d.) traces the word...

Copy the URL from your browser bar while you are on the entry page. The OED has restructured its web addresses since many library guides wrote their examples, so the URL in an old guide may not resolve anymore. If you reached the OED through your library's proxy, remove the proxy prefix so the URL works for readers outside your institution.

5. Print collegiate dictionary with a page number

For a print dictionary, add the edition and the page number inside one set of parentheses after the title, separated by a comma. There is no URL and no retrieval date. The Cambridge University Libraries APA 7 guide states the parentheses rule and drops the publisher when it matches the author:

Merriam-Webster. (2003). Litmus test. In Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary (11th ed., p. 727).

Parenthetical: (Merriam-Webster, 2003)

Narrative: Merriam-Webster (2003) defines a litmus test as...

You can name the dictionary in your sentence for readability ("The Collegiate Dictionary defines a litmus test as..."), but the citation still has to lead with the author, because the name in the citation must match the first element of the reference: (Merriam-Webster, 2003).

The edition goes in as a numeral with "ed." (11th ed.). Leave out the edition element for a first edition.

6. Print dictionary with named editors

When an older print dictionary has no corporate author but credits an editorial team, the editors move to the front. This example is from the JCU guide:

Hughes, J. M., Michell, P. A., & Ransom, W. S. (Eds.). (1992). Zucchini. In The Australian concise Oxford dictionary (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.

Parenthetical: (Hughes et al., 1992)

Narrative: Hughes et al. (1992) list zucchini as...

With three or more authors or editors, APA 7 uses the first surname plus "et al." in every in-text citation, starting with the first. The reference list still names all three. Because the editors and the publisher are different, the publisher stays in this reference.

7. A signed entry in a subject dictionary or encyclopedia

Specialist reference works often credit each entry to an expert, and the whole work has an editor. Now the reference looks exactly like an edited book chapter: entry author first, then "In" with the editor's name and the work's title. The JCU guide's example:

Güzeldere, G. (2005). Zombies. In L. Nadel (Ed.), Encyclopedia of cognitive science. Wiley. https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/wileycs/zombies

Parenthetical: (Güzeldere, 2005)

Narrative: Güzeldere (2005) argues...

Editor initials come before the surname here (L. Nadel), the reverse of the author position. That flip is the same one you see in an APA book chapter reference, and it trips people up for the same reason.

8. Wiktionary and other wiki dictionaries

Wiktionary is written by volunteers, so no person or company is the author. APA's rule for wikis (Section 10.3, example 49) moves the entry title into the author position and asks for the archived version of the page. Cambridge's and Douglas College's guides both show this for Wikipedia, and Wiktionary works the same way: open the "View history" tab, click the timestamp of the version you read, and copy that permanent URL.

Zombie. (Year, Month Day). In Wiktionary. [permanent URL from View history]

Parenthetical: ("Zombie," Year)

Narrative: "Zombie" (Year) gives the etymology as...

The date is the date of that revision, and because you are citing a fixed version, no retrieval date is needed. The in-text title goes in quotation marks and title case because the entry title is not italicized in the reference. Our guide to citing Wikipedia in APA 7 walks through the View history steps in more detail.

Special cases

Two entries from the same online dictionary

Citing culture and society from Merriam-Webster gives you two references with the same author and the same date (n.d.). APA separates them with lowercase letters after a hyphen, assigned in alphabetical order of the entry titles:

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.-a). Culture. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved October 25, 2026, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/culture

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.-b). Society. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved October 25, 2026, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/society

In-text: (Merriam-Webster, n.d.-a) and (Merriam-Webster, n.d.-b), or both at once: (Merriam-Webster, n.d.-a, n.d.-b)

Every entry you cite gets its own reference. A single reference to "Merriam-Webster" covering several words does not tell a reader which page to open. The guide to citing a source with no date in APA 7 covers the letter rule for other undated sources.

Quoting a definition word for word

A direct quotation needs a location in the citation. Dictionary entries rarely have page numbers online, and the manual does not name a "definition number" locator. Section 8.28 does allow other locators for unpaginated work, and several library guides apply that by citing the numbered sense. The Cambridge University Libraries guide shows (Merriam-Webster, n.d., Definition 1). Using the first sense of Cambridge's entry for zombie:

A zombie is "a frightening creature that is a dead person who has been brought back to life, but without human qualities" (Cambridge University Press, n.d., Definition 1).

If the entry does not number its senses, the quotation without a locator is defensible, because the entry is short and the reference points to exactly one page. For print, give the page: (Merriam-Webster, 2003, p. 727). Paraphrase needs no locator at all.

A dictionary entry with no author and no publisher information

Some small or self-published glossaries do not name an author, editors, or a responsible company. APA's missing-author rule (Section 9.12, with the order of elements in Table 9.1) moves the entry title to the front. Camosun's example:

Quality function deployment. (2014). In The lean healthcare dictionary: An illustrated guide to using the language of lean management in healthcare. Routledge.

In-text: ("Quality Function Deployment," 2014)

Use this only when the dictionary truly credits nobody. A publisher name on the title page counts as a group author, which keeps you on the normal pattern. More cases like this are in the guide to citing a source with no author in APA 7.

Citing the whole dictionary

Occasionally you need the dictionary as a whole, for instance in a methods section that names the dictionary used to check spelling. Drop the entry title and italicize the dictionary title as the work itself:

Merriam-Webster. (2003). Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary (11th ed.).

In-text: (Merriam-Webster, 2003)

This is the format for a whole book with a group author, and it is rare in student papers. If you quote or paraphrase a definition, cite the entry.

Google's definition box

Searching "define [word]" in Google shows a definition panel credited to a licensed dictionary provider, named at the bottom of the panel. APA has no example for this panel, and the panel is a display of licensed dictionary data, not a dictionary with its own title and entry pages. The defensible choice is to look the word up in a dictionary you can cite with a stable entry URL (Merriam-Webster, Cambridge, or your library's OED access) and cite that entry instead. If you must cite the panel, check with your instructor first, because there is no agreed format.

Bilingual dictionaries

A translation dictionary follows the same pattern. The entry title is the headword as it appears in the dictionary, in its original language, and the dictionary title stays in its original form. If your paper is in English and the title is not, APA asks for an English translation of the title in square brackets after it. For a bilingual dictionary whose title is already in English (most Collins and Oxford bilingual editions), no bracket is needed.

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

Using the footer copyright year as the date. A Merriam-Webster page that says "© 2026" at the bottom is not an entry dated 2026. The footer year covers the whole site. Write n.d. unless the entry shows its own date.

Adding a retrieval date to a dated entry. Some guides pair a year with a retrieval date, as in "Merriam-Webster. (2023). Humanities. ... Retrieved November 22, 2023, from...". The manual's rule ties the retrieval date to n.d.: continuously updated and unarchived content gets both, and a dated entry gets neither the n.d. nor the retrieval date. Pick one pattern based on what the entry page shows.

Italicizing the entry word or putting it in quotation marks. In the reference, the entry word is plain text and only the dictionary title is italic: Culture. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. In your own sentence, a word discussed as a word is italicized (APA italicizes a word used as a linguistic example), which is why culture is italic in "Merriam-Webster (n.d.) lists several senses of culture."

Naming the publisher twice. "Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Culture. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Merriam-Webster." repeats the author as the publisher. Drop the second one.

Dropping "In." Without "In," the reference reads as if the entry word were the title of a separate book. The word "In" signals that the entry is part of a larger work, exactly as in a book chapter reference.

Leaving "Retrieved" in for print. Print references end with the parentheses and the period. Retrieval dates belong only to online content that changes.

Copying a proxy URL. A URL containing your university's proxy domain (often something like "ezproxy" or "login" in the address) only works for people logged in to your library. Use the dictionary's own URL.

Citing "Webster's dictionary" generically. Several publishers sell dictionaries with "Webster's" in the title. Name the actual dictionary from the title page or the site header.

Quick-reference table