The Cite OED2 template generates a reference for a particular word defined in the second edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. Unlike the Cite OED template it does not generate an online reference, the online resource is OED3 reached through Cite OED.

The template should be inserted after punctuation, such as a period or comma.

In its simplest form:

{{Cite OED2 | term }} — where term is edit a word or a term used in the OED second edition.

There are other parameters:

|term=word (or term) — one must be supplied if the unnamed parameter is not.
|part=part of speech — see note below.
|number=homonym number — used by the OED to differentiate distinct meanings and histories.
|volume=volume-number — see below.
|page=page or |pages=page-range — see below.
|year=1989 — this is the default value which can be changed.
|isbn=isbn
|ref=Reference-OED2-term — this is a default value which can be changed 
                              or set to none to unset it.

The part of speech may be needed to distinguish different uses of the same word. Generally the use is obvious: v for a verb; adj an adjective; pple a participle and so forth. However the OED uses the abbreviation sb (=substantive) for a noun, and further, if unambiguous, will omit sb. In citations this is not normally needed, however words such as row (seven nouns, two adjectives one adverb and eight verbs) would need both |part and |number to be unambiguous.

Page numbering starts afresh at the beginning of each volume. Be particularly careful if using the Compact OED for reference, the page cited should be the original number from the 20 volume set, not the compact version's page number.

First word of each volume
A I Ow XI
B.B.C. II Poise XII
Cham III Quemadero XIII
Creel IV Rob XIV
Dvandva V Ser XV
Follow VI Soot XVI
Hat VII Su XVII
Interval VIII Thru XVIII
Look IX Unemancipated XIX
Moul X Wave XX

Linkage

change

The template automatically generates an anchor in the format Reference-OED2-{{{1}}}

See also

change

{{Cite OED1}} which generates similar code for the first edition.

{{Cite OED}} which generates a reference to the third, online, edition.