Reference.com
Encyclopedia
Reference.com is an online encyclopedia
, thesaurus
, and dictionary
. The site also provides machine translation
and web search
.
Reference.com was launched by InReference, Inc in February, 1997. The site was later acquired by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. In 2005, Lexico announced that Reference.com would begin offering searches of Wikipedia
content. In mid-2007, the site typically ranked in the mid-200s among the most popular websites on the Internet. The popularity of dictionary.com had been greatly boosted by Google's practice of offering a link at the top of their search results that go to the dictionary.com definition. This exclusive relationship was terminated without explanation to the public when the Google links were redirected to definitions at Answers.com. (In December of 2009, the Answers.com links were replaced with Google's own dictionary, google.com/dictionary.) More recently, Google added a dictionary.com definition link for certain search words in a non-exclusive relationship (along with links to definitions from a few other commercial reference websites). On 3 July 2008, InterActiveCorp acquired Lexico Publishing Group, LLC and its three properties: Thesaurus.com, Reference.com, and Dictionary.com.
Reference.com reproduces content from external sources. The site's sources include other online dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a search of terms found on other websites such as Wikipedia and the CIA World Factbook. The site can also search Usenet
groups and other mailing list
s.
Reference.com in 2010 topped the list compiled by The Wall Street Journal
ranking websites by how many third party tracking cookies were added to the users computer. Reference.com added 234 tracking cookies when encountering a first time user.
Encyclopedia
An encyclopedia is a type of reference work, a compendium holding a summary of information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge....
, thesaurus
Thesaurus
A thesaurus is a reference work that lists words grouped together according to similarity of meaning , in contrast to a dictionary, which contains definitions and pronunciations...
, and dictionary
Dictionary
A dictionary is a collection of words in one or more specific languages, often listed alphabetically, with usage information, definitions, etymologies, phonetics, pronunciations, and other information; or a book of words in one language with their equivalents in another, also known as a lexicon...
. The site also provides machine translation
Machine translation
Machine translation, sometimes referred to by the abbreviation MT is a sub-field of computational linguistics that investigates the use of computer software to translate text or speech from one natural language to another.On a basic...
and web search
Web search engine
A web search engine is designed to search for information on the World Wide Web and FTP servers. The search results are generally presented in a list of results often referred to as SERPS, or "search engine results pages". The information may consist of web pages, images, information and other...
.
Reference.com was launched by InReference, Inc in February, 1997. The site was later acquired by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. In 2005, Lexico announced that Reference.com would begin offering searches of Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
content. In mid-2007, the site typically ranked in the mid-200s among the most popular websites on the Internet. The popularity of dictionary.com had been greatly boosted by Google's practice of offering a link at the top of their search results that go to the dictionary.com definition. This exclusive relationship was terminated without explanation to the public when the Google links were redirected to definitions at Answers.com. (In December of 2009, the Answers.com links were replaced with Google's own dictionary, google.com/dictionary.) More recently, Google added a dictionary.com definition link for certain search words in a non-exclusive relationship (along with links to definitions from a few other commercial reference websites). On 3 July 2008, InterActiveCorp acquired Lexico Publishing Group, LLC and its three properties: Thesaurus.com, Reference.com, and Dictionary.com.
Reference.com reproduces content from external sources. The site's sources include other online dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a search of terms found on other websites such as Wikipedia and the CIA World Factbook. The site can also search Usenet
Usenet
Usenet is a worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. It developed from the general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name.Duke University graduate students Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979 and it was established in 1980...
groups and other mailing list
Mailing list
A mailing list is a collection of names and addresses used by an individual or an organization to send material to multiple recipients. The term is often extended to include the people subscribed to such a list, so the group of subscribers is referred to as "the mailing list", or simply "the...
s.
Reference.com in 2010 topped the list compiled by The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
ranking websites by how many third party tracking cookies were added to the users computer. Reference.com added 234 tracking cookies when encountering a first time user.