The Encarta[registered] Essential Thesaurus is a portable guide for choosing the right word. Over 200,000 synonyms (words of similar meaning) and antonyms (words of opposite meaning) can be accessed from a quick-reference A-Z list of more than 25,000 entries. Contained in a small format, it can be easily slipped into a briefcase or college holdall. For words which have similar meanings, the Encarta[registered] Essential Thesaurus provides Compare and Contrast panels to highlight the differences. There are also thematic groupings of selected nouns, eg. words for male and female animals, types of jewellery, and parts of a bike. The Encarta[registered] Essential Thesaurus is based on the electronic thesaurus in the popular Word[registered] word-processing program.