Example searches

Exact character searching

Aim: to find occurrences of the French word mère

A standard Full Text search for mere will find mère, and also examples of mere. To find only mère, exact character searching must be used.

Open the Advanced search page by clicking .
Make sure the entries tab is selected.
Type m#egrave#re into the first input box.

#egrave# is the name of the character ‘è’ in the OED. See Special characters, hyphens, and case for more information on names of special characters.
Select full text from the corresponding search area list box.
In the panel to the right of the search form, click the checkbox labelled ‘Exact character searching’
Click to start the search.
The results list is displayed.
To go to the top of any entry, click its name (in the left-hand column). To go to the first match in any entry, click the matching term (in the right-hand column).

Note that exact character searching will also allow exclusion of accented characters. For example, typing mere with ‘exact character searching’ selected will find only mere and not mère.

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