Hello I wrote Jack Lynch Professor at Rutledge Univ of th Century Literature His talks includes works involving dictionaries He responded concerning definition of dictionary with  dictionary has had a wide range of applications over the centuries  Since  the word dictionary has been used with this meaning      By extension A book of information or reference on any     subject or branch of knowledge the items of which are     arranged in alphabetical order an alphabetical encyclopdia as a Dictionary of Architecture Biography Geography of the Bible of Christian Antiquities of Dates etc  There are all sorts of reference works wed be likely to call other things  encyclopedias gazetteers and so on  that have been called dictionaries by their makers  In these cases      the essential sense wordbook is supplanted by the     accidental one of reference book in alphabetical order     arising out of the alphabetical arrangement used in modern     wordbooks   My reason for contacting Professor Lynch was the result of a curriculum director denying my published phonetic dictionary to her school relating that the reference book was not a real dictionary Now the dictionary is in public library collections in Canada Mexico The Netherlands and of course since its an American English Phonetic Dictionary is in over  US public libraries I am the lexicographer and would like to include Gabbys Wordspeller  Phonetic Dictionary into the dictionary collection And since its the only known phonetic dictionary currently in existence in either book or digital form it has no category to list itself Does it belong in a subcategory or does it require its own category There may be others come along now that this one has made the light of day