Oxford Business English Dictionary for learners of English

643 Pages·2006·127.083 MB·English

by  Dilys Parkinson, Joseph Noble

BUSINESS
ENGLISH
Dictionary
for learners of English
Abbreviations used in the dictionary
abbr abbreviation
adj. adjective
adv. adverb
C countablenoun
+obj verbusedwithanobject(= transitive)
noobj verbthatdoesnothaveanobject(= intransitive)
+ objornoobj verbusedwithorwithoutanobject
pi. plural
prep, preposition
sb somebody
sing, singular
sth something
U uncountablenoun
withsing./pl.verb anounthatcanhaveasingularorpluralverb
BrE BritishEnglish
AmE AmericanEnglish
Symbols used in the dictionary
* showstheheadwordisanimportantword
~ replacestheheadwordofanentry
• showsanewpartofspeechinanentry
= isthesameas;equals
O showscommonpatternsandwordcombinations
derivative(s)sectionofanentry
l!HU extragrammatical informationabouthowtousetheword
UVU4 extrainformationabouttheword
ITHTI idiom(s)sectionofanentry
mEJ phrasalverb(s) sectionofanentry
-» directsyou toanotherentry
Isyni showsasynonym
IQPPI showsanopposite
Labels used in the dictionary
figurative expressionsthatareusednotintheirtruesense,butinan
imaginativeway,inordertogiveaspecialeffect
formal Theseexpressionsarenormallyonlyusedinseriousandofficial
languageandarenotfrequentlyusedineverydayconversation.
informal expressionsthatareusedinrelaxedorunofficialsituationssuch
asbetweenfriendsandcolleagues.Theyarenotappropriatefor
formalsituations.
lessfrequent Thisshowsthatthesynonymgivenforaparticularheadword
isusedlessoftenthantheheadword.
old-fashioned expressionsthatarenolongerusedverymuch
slang languagethatisveryinformalandisoftenonlyusedbya
particulargroupofpeoplewhohavethesameage,job,etc.
Oxford
Business English
Dictionary
for learners ofEnglish
Edited by Dilys Parkinson
Assistedby Joseph Noble
oxroRD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS
GreatClarendonStreet,Oxford0x2 6dp
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©OxfordUniversityPress2005
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Youmustnotcirculatethisbookinanyotherbindingorcover
andyoumustimposethissameconditiononanyacquirer
Thisdictionaryincludessomewordswhichhaveorareassertedtohave
proprietarystatusastrademarksorotherwise.Theirinclusiondoesnot
implythattheyhaveacquiredforlegalpurposesanon-proprietaryorgeneral
significancenoranyotherjudgementconcerningtheirlegalstatus.Incaseswhere
theeditorialstaffhavesomeevidencethatawordhasproprietarystatusthisis
indicatedintheentryforthatwordbutnojudgementconcerningthelegal
statusofsuchwordsismadeorimpliedthereby
TheBritishNationalCorpusisacollaborativeprojectinvolving
OxfordUniversityPress,Longman,Chambers,theUniversitiesof
OxfordandLancasterandtheBritishLibrary
ISBN-13: 978o194315845 (book)
isbn-13: 978 oi9431617o (bookandcd-rompack)
isbn-io: 0194315843 (book)
isbn-10: oi94316173 (bookandcd-rompack)
TypesetbyDataStandardsLtd.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
CoverphotographybyCorbisandImageSource
Kitemarksymbol(p305)reproducedbypermissionoftheBritishStandardsInstitution
Illustrations:DavidEaton(pp215,371,390,420,533,576);JulianBaker(pS4-5)
AdvisoryBoard:DrKeithBrown,ProfGuyCook,DrAlanCruse,RuthGairns,MoiraRuncie,
ProfGabrieleStein,DrNormanWhitney,ProfHenryWiddowson
Contents
Insidefrontcover Abbreviations,symbolsandlabelsusedinthedictionary
v Preface
vi Howtousethisdictionary
1-614 The Dictionary
615 Pronunciationandphoneticsymbols
Insidebackcover Subjectlabelsusedinthedictionary
Between312-313 Study Pages
S2 IdiomaticlanguageinBusinessEnglish
S4 ComputersandtheInternet
S6 Incoterms
S8 Writingletters,emailsandmemos
S11 Applyingforajob
S14 Describinggraphs
S16 Thedevelopmentofabusiness
Preface
ThiscompletelynewdictionaryofBusinessEnglishhasbeen
speciallywrittentobeofpracticaluseforstudentsofbusiness
andexperiencedbusinesspeoplewhoneedtoread,writeand
speakEnglishintheirwork,andforthosewhogivethem
languagetrainingandadvice.
ItisintendedforlearnersofEnglishatintermediateto
advancedlevel.Thedefinitionshavebeenwrittenusingthe
Oxford3000™ sothattheyaresimpleandclear,butaccurate
anddetailed.
Toensurethatthematerialincludedinthedictionaryisas
up-to-dateandauthenticaspossible,anew50millionword
corpusofbusinessEnglishwasused.Thisisacollectionofwritten
andspokenBritishandAmericanEnglishtakenfromvarious
sourcessuchasthebusinesssectionsofnewspapers,business
journalsandtextbooks,andinterviewswithbusinesspeople.
Ithasenabledawiderangeofbusinessareastobecoveredinthe
dictionaryinadditiontotermsthatareofmoregeneralusein
communicatinginEnglishinabusinesscontext.
AspeoplestudyingEnglishforbusinessneedtoknowhowto
usewordscorrectlyaswellaswhattheymean,detailedgrammar
informationhasbeenincludedandexamplesthatshowhowa
termisusedintypicalcontexts.Inaddition,fortermsthatare
commonlyusedthereisextensiveinformationaboutcollocation,
forexampleverbsthatcanbeusedwithaparticularnoun.
1000wordsinthedictionaryaremarkedwithastarto
showthattheyareparticularlyimportantinBusinessEnglish.
Thesearewordsthatarefrequentonourbusinesscorpusandare
essentialinmostareasofbusinessorcombinewithmanyothers
tomakecompounds.
Duringthewritingofthedictionarywehavebeenadvised
byteachersofBusinessEnglishandbypeopleinvolvedinthe
worldofbusiness.Ishouldliketothankthemembersofthe
SaidBusinessSchoolinOxfordwhohelpedusinanadvisory
capacityonvariousareasofbusiness,especiallyBurcuHacibedel
(Banking,FinanceandEconomics)andDorisSchedlitzki
(ManagementandHumanResources).Iamalsogratefulto
theotherpeoplewhogaveustheirexpertadvice,including
TonyEreira(StockExchangeandFinance),RichardSpraggett
(Accounting)andRobertaWedge(FinanceandManagement).
Iwouldalsoliketoacknowledgetheinvaluableworkofthe
largeteamofpeoplewhohavebeeninvolvedinthedictionary
atvariousstages,bothbeforeandafterthetextwascomplete.
DilysParkinson
August2005
VI
How
to use this dictionary
Atypical entry
rcs
quarterly /'kwo:tali;AmE'kwoxtarli/
.2 theheadword pronunciation,with
— partsofspeech •aaddjjeeccttiivve,ea[donvleyrbb,efnooreunnoun] Awmheerriectahnispirsodniufnfecrieanttion
1 relatingtoaperiodofthreemonths:quarterly
Numbersshowthe earnings/income/profitsoThisisan80%reduction
differentmeanings. onthepreviousquarterlydividend.
2 producedorhappeningeverythreemonths:
Managersattendquarterlyplanningmeetings. meaning
—•adverb
showswherethe everythreemonths:Wemeetquarterlywithour
informationoneach accountants. exampleofuse
partofspeechbegins •noun
1 [C]amagazine,etc.publishedfourtimesayear:
grammaticalinformation Themagazineisaquarterlyaimedatpeople
workinginadvertising.
subjectlabelindicating 2fin{aAncccioaulntriensgu)ltqsutahratterllairgeesc[poim]pianntiheesUSp,ubtlhiesh
theareaofbusinessfor
thismeaning"
Howtofindaword
Allwordsarelistedinalphabeticalorderwhethertheyarewrittenas
onewordortwoorwithahyphen.Iftheheadwordistwoormore
words,suchasaddedvalue,itislistedaccordingtothefirstwordinthe
compound(i.e.added).
*value/'vaelju:/noun,adjective,verb // Theheadword
•noun isreplacedwith
atilde(~).
seealso addedvalue,agreed~,assessed~
Thisshowsyouphrases asset~,book~,break-up~,capital~,etc. ,
Tcinohnettshaeeidnciatcnhtiibsoenhaferoayudntwhdoartadt. g1oo[Ud,sC]fhorowwhimcuhchitcstahnibsewoerxtchhainngmeod:neyorother ^etthce.fsuhllolwisst.thisisnot
theiralphabeticalplace.
Manywordshavealternativeformsoralternativespellings.Themost
commonformisusuallygivenasthemainentryandthelessfrequently
usedtermredirectsyoutothemainentry.
mission .statement{also.statement
Thisshowsan of'purpose)noun[C]
alternativetermwith
thesamemeaning. .statementof purpose =mission
Thealternativeheadword STATEMENT
redirectsyoutothemain
entry. AmericanEnglishformsaretreatedinthesameway:
labourer {AmEspellinglaborer) /'leibara(r)/
laborer =labourer
Manyheadwordsalsohaveanabbreviatedform:
.read-'writeadjective {abbrRY/)
Thisindicatesan
abbreviation.
Sometimestheabbreviationisusedmorefrequentlythanthe VII
fullform,inwhichcasetheabbreviationisthemainheadword.
GDP
/,d3i:di:'pi:/abbr
{Economics) grossdomesticproduct thetotal
Thefullformisshown valueofallthegoodsandservicesproducedbya
afterwardsinboldtype.
Derivativesarewordswhosemeaningcanbeunderstoodfrom c
anotherword(therootword).Theydonothavetheirownentry o
inthedictionarybutaregivenatthesameentryastherootword,
inaspeciallymarkedsection: "D
illicit/I'lisit/adjective
notallowedbythelaw:theillicittradeintobacco
products[syn]illegal illicitly adverb
Thetriangleshows
wherethederivatives
sectionstarts.
Idiomsandphrasalverbsareplacedinspeciallymarkedsections
withintheentry.Idiomsareattheentryfortheirfirstimportantword
(=nouns,verbs,adjectivesoradverbs)thatisinthedictionaryorat
theirfirstword.Theexamplesbelowcanbefoundattheentryfortick:
IT»raiindicatesthebeginning FT»ni have.ticksinalltheright'boxes{informal)
oftheidiomssection. ECEI3 ticksb/sth off{BrE)
333
showsthebeginning
ofthephrasalverbssection.
Understandingand usingtheword
^vendor{AmEspellingalsovender)/'venda(r)/
Tishaenstiamrpsorhtoawnsttwhoatrdt.his noun[C]{formal) informationtoshow
thatthewordisused
particularsituations
bank'holidaynoun[c] {BrE)
Stressmarksshowstress Geographylabels
onphrases. indicatewhetherthe
wordisusedinBritish
orAmericanEnglish.
bleed/bli:d/verb (bled,bled /bled/)
verbpatterns £ 1ten[se+so)b(jaobrountoaobcj]omp{ausneyd)estpoeclioaslelyailnartgheecaomnotuinnutous viperrrrobensgu,unlwcairitafhtoitrohmnessirof
extragrammaticalinformation Irregularpluralsof
nounsarealsoshown.
Strip/strip/verb,noun
-[ •verb[+obj] (-pp-)
fipoarrrrtepigrcueilspalreensstpaealnnlddinppgaasstttense r1esmtorvipesstthhffrroommsstbh//sstbh:|Tshteryipwesrbe/sftohunodfgsutihlttyoof aprnedposstirtuicotnusr,esadthvaetrbasre
frequentlyusedwith
thisword
Steep/sti:p/adjective (steeper,steepest)
1 [usuallybeforenoun](aboutariseorfallinan comparativesand
informationonthe amount)suddenandverybig:Thesteepdeclinein superlativesof
useofadjectives adjectives
Buildingyourvocabulary
VIM
Thedictionaryalsocontainsalotofinformationthatisdesigned
tohelpyouincreaseyourvocabulary.
*statistic/sta'tistik/noun
1 statistics [alsostats,informal)[pi.]acollection
fixedformofthenoun ofinformationshowninnumbers:economic/ alternativeforms
employment/unemploymentstatisticsoOfficial
cre statisticsshowthatpeopleinthenorthofthe
JO countryarethehighestearners.
tj Oindicatesthatthe -Ocaucrcruernatt/e'/mgolnotohmlyy/yrneeliwa/bolfef/icsiuarlp'/rriescienngtssttaattiissttiiccss
followingwordsare toanalyse/collect/prepare/produce/release
commonphrases statistics statisticstellsblindicate!prove/showsth
andpatterns.
statistically/sta'tistikli/adverb:Thelevelofthe
customercomplaintswasnotstatisticallysignificant. }-commonorfixed
phrasesinboldtype
inexamples
DefinitionsusevocabularyfromtheOxford3000™unlessaspecificterm
isneededthatisnotintheOxford3000™,whenitiswritten
inSMALL CAPITALS.
'book equitynoun[u]
(Accounting)thevalueofacompanyasshowninits
awordinadefinition fitisnaLnIcAiBaIlLrIeTcIoErSds =(btohokesm)o,nwehiycihtoisweitss)assetsminus wWiotrhds(birnacbkoetlsd)tgyivpee
tOhxaftorisdn3o0t0i0n™the t(=h.e..p)rgeicveedsitnhgewmoeradniorngphorfase. tphreecceodrirencgtdteescrrmipftoirotnh.e
Crossreferencesdirectyoutootherrelatedwordsinthedictionary.
Thereareanumberofnotesandillustrationsgivingextra
informationaboutimportantwords.
pallet/'paelat/noun[C]
aflatwoodenframeusedforstoringandmoving
goods;theframeanditscontents:Eachshelf
containstwopalletsandeachpalletcontains
60bags.-»skid-Pictureattransport
->directsyoutoa Thisdirectsyouto
relatedword. apictureillustrating
thisword.
British Englishand American English spelling
Wordsthatendin-ize,-ization,etc.canalsobespelled-ise,
-isation,etc.inBritishEnglish.
aElntgelrinsahtsipveelBlriintgish { letigorramaladiikzaeeti,sotn-hfiloseregma/lal:iniTyghaeltaygipoze/vsevorefrnfbomoe[d+n.tobhja]slegalized
WordsthatarespelleddifferentlyinBritishEnglishandAmerican
Englishbutwhichareonlyactuallyusedinoneofthesevarieties
ofEnglishhaveinformationtoshowthesedifferences.
'colour supplement (AmEspellingcolor~) }-
theAmericanEnglish
Thisindicatesthatthe {_ noun[C] (BrEonly) spelling
wordorphraseisonly
usedinBritishEnglish.
J
L abbreviated accounts
Numbers
@ symbol{onlyusedinwrittenEnglish)at letpeopleshopatmidnightandbuysharesonthe
1 thesymbolusedinemailaddresses: Internetatdawn, butitcoulddamageourhealth.
[email protected], 2G /,tu:'d3i:/ = second-generation(2)
especiallyonabill:15boxes@$12perbox:$180 360-degreefeedback /,eri:.sikstidi.gri:
10000-footview /,ten'GauzndTut'vju:/noun ''ffie:eddbbaaeck/k){anlosoun,3[6u0]-degreeappraisal,.full-circle
[C] {informal) {HR)informationorcriticismaboutsb'sworkfrom
|aSYbNr|oHaEdLIgeCnOePrTaElRvViIeEwWo,rOdVeEscRrViIpEtiWonofaproblem atlhleitrhematnyapegsero,fppeeoopplleetohneythweosrakmweitlhev,eli,nctlhueding
16PF™ /,siksti:n,pi:'ef/abbr peopletheymanage,customers,etc.;ajudgement
{HR)16personalityfactorsatestused,especially ofthevalueoftheirworkbasedonthis
bdbiyyffeaemsrpkelinnotgyaeqsrupsee,sctttisoofonifsntdwhhoeiiurcthcahbaaorreuatcdteaesrpiegrnseodn'tsocjhuadrgaect1e6r 430G1/(,9kr)i:/',df3ai::(/r)=aut'hwiArnd-('gkeein);erAamtEiooun/(1n)oun [(
PSYCHOMETRICTEST (p/wra/401(k)sor401(k),s)
2t+w2o=p5lus/'ttuw:opUesqu'taul:skkfwiavelza'pfhairva/spehurasseedtoexpress iprnaeittdihreienUmtSeo,nataniwnianwyvheioscfthsmaeavnpitenfrgucmneondtncaehgyoesfoeofnryybooyuuryrowuargeis
tt(hmoeegreigtdehe)ea,rtmohroartwehwehcnaenntbwteowaoccoohmripgeaavnneiidzeatsthijaoonnisniftwtoohgreeykthaerre esmimompnilleoayyreoarum,totuoonfwtth.hieTcafhuxneidms:polanol4yy0e1cr(hskas)rogpmeledatnwi/hmcoeensntrayidobduutatiaokne
workingseparately-»synergy
24ttow/em7netay/-n.ftow'aeulnrlttihhofeua:rt'sismeea'vd)a:any;T,AhsemeEwveefbna:srd/taoyarsdevaiesrwobepeenk2(4u/s7e.d thwn{Mehoaiur4nckeh[tPpitisno.g]g){eatplhrseoordspufecoltrl,emdptfrhoiecuerm,aPprsr)koe/m,tfooi:tn'igpoi:nmz;isxAa,mnaEdn,dpfloa:rc/e,
EscEhEedBul2e4/a7ndisaanlsoounu:seOduarsbaunsiandejsesctnieveed:sa242/47/.7 bwehiscohldsshuocucledssbfeulclayrefullyplannedifaproductisto
24-hour /.twentifa:r'aua(r)/adjective[onlybefore the 5Ss {alsospelledFiveSs)/,faiv'esiz/noun [pi.]
noun] amethodofmakingandkeepinganofficeor
1 usedtodescribesththatisopenoravailableall workplacecleanandwellorganized.The5Ssare:
dayandnight:a24-hourstoreo24-hourtelephone sort(=organizeanddecidewhattokeeporthrow
banking
2 usedtodescribesththatrelatestoonedayor aawsayys)t,ems)y,sstcemrautbi(z=ec(l=eaanrrtahnogreoutghhilnyg)s,asctcaonrddairndgitzoe
happensonlyononeday:a24-hourstrike (=maketheseactivitiesregularandnormal)and
24-hourclock /.twentifa:raua'kink;AmEauar sustain(= continuetodoit).
t'khlea:sky/sntoeumnof[suisngi.n]gtwenty-fournumberstotalk th'e208.p0ri/n2ci0pler)unloeun/.e[rstiing'.t]wentirail/{alsothe,80/
aboutthehoursoftheday,ratherthandividingthe atheorythat80%ofresultscomefrom20%of
dayintotwounitsoftwelvehours effortorcauses:Accordingtothe80/20rule,80%of
24-hoursociety /.twentiixrauasa'saiati;AmE yourrevenuecomesfromjust20%ofyour
auar/noun [u;sing.] customers. [synJPareto'slaw—PictureatPareto
thefactthatpeoplecannowwork,play,shop,etc. analysis
allnightaswellasallday:The24-hoursocietymay
Aa
A1 /,ei'WAn/adjective 2 {Insurance)togiveupthelegalownershipofsth,
1 {Finance)usedtodescribeacompanythatis suchasashiporcargothathasbeendamaged,to
consideredtobeabletopayitsdebtsandtobesafe aninsurancecompanyinexchangeforan
tolendmoneyto:ThecompanyisratedAl by insurancepayment,especiallywhenthecostof
Moody'sandA+byStandardandPoor's.-»triple-a repairingitismorethanitstotalvalue
2 usedtodescribesthsuchasaship,oraperson, 3 {Law)tostoptryingtomakeaclaiminacourt:
thatisinthebestpossiblecondition Theclaimwasabandonedwiththepermissionofthe
AAAAAra/t.itnnpgl'e/i,/ei='eit/r=ipalvee-Arageaudiencerating -c>ouiardtb.iaonmdaotnshmiepnt/a'baendanmant/noun [u]
*abandon /a'baendan/verb[+obj] abate /a'beit/verb[+objornoobj]
1 tostopdoingsth,especiallybeforeitisfinished; tobecomelessstrong;tomakesthlessstrong:The
tostophavingorusingsth:Thegrouphasbeen three-yearrecessionshowednosignsofabating.
forcedtoabandonitsplantoraisecapacityby8%.o a'batementnoun [u]
cTuhsetcomoemrps.anywasabandonedbymanyofits ab breviatedaccounts noun [pi] {BrE)
{Accounting)atypeoffinancialrecordthatcontains