Pity the poor Canadian lexicographer trying to negotiate our historical schizophrenia: “draft” or “draught”? “recognize” or “recognise”? “centre” or “center”? “favor” or “favour”? Dictionary-makers can’t legislate; they can only reflect how we write and speak, and out of endless flux, guide us to safe verbal ground. So this splendid new Nelson dictionary firmly and methodically establishes Canadian usage at the end of the 20th century.

Canadian dictionaries (with the exception of Gage’s landmark 1967 Dictionary of Canadian English) have tended to be based on American works, with Canadian additions and alterations. This one, drawing extensively on the American Heritage Dictionary, follows that tradition, but its Canadianization is impressively thorough. Its 150,000 entries include thousands of distinctive Canadian usages: “wendigo,” for example, or “sugar shack,” or “loonie.” Some 10,000 encyclopedic entries include Robertson Davies, Barbara Ann Scott, and (with a picture) Peter Gzowski. Spot-checking reveals the occasional slip: great marks for including loyalist leader Molly Brant, but she was never “the author of accounts of Huron missions.”

The thousands of black-and-white illustrations, like most dictionary pictures, often seem arbitrary, but they’re leavening and lively. A strong emphasis on etymology extends to a 40-page guide to Indo-European roots. With synonym lists and cross-references, the dictionary also functions as a thesaurus. And the many appendixes are a storehouse of Canadiana: time zones, former prime ministers, Charter of Rights, the complete words to “O Canada!” – all those things we should know about this country but never had time to look up. And here it all is, for less than the cost of your average Tom Clancy. For anyone involved in putting thoughts and words on paper in this country, this is a substantial resource. We could all do worse than find ourselves snowed in with nothing but the Nelson Canadian Dictionary to while away the time.