There are certain kinds of information which can be conveyed more readily and clearly by pictures than by definitions and explanations alone: an illustration will help the reader to visualize the object denoted by the word and to form an impression of the way in which the objects function in their own technical field or in everyday life.

Each double-page of the dictionary contains a list of the vocabulary of a subject together with the picture illustrating this vocabulary. This arrangement, and the presence of an alphabetical index, allows the book to be used in two ways: either as a key to the vocabulary of a subject, or as an alphabetical dictionary in which the reader is referred to the section, or sections, in which the word is illustrated. This second edition has been revised and updated to reflect the most up-to-date changes in technology, science and medicine, industry, and commerce and to offer even wider coverage of all major fields of reference, including the arts and entertainment, recreation and sport, flora and fauna and typical situations in domestic and everyday life. Over 1500 new items of vocabulary have been added relating to such diverse fields as photography, typesetting, personal computers, telecommunications and transport. The objects are organized thematically enabling the user to grasp the entire vocabulary relevant to a given situation or context.