31:
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582:. Editors at Merriam spend about an hour a day looking at print sources, from books and newspapers to less formal publications, like advertisements and product packaging, to study the uses of individual words and choose things that should be preserved in the citation file. Merriam-Webster's citation file contains more than 16 million entries documenting individual uses of words. Millions of these citations are recorded on
565:
symbols from
Unicode version 1.1 published in 1993, but did not support the phonetic symbols specific to Merriam-Webster dictionaries until Unicode version 4.0 published in 2003. Hence, to enable computerized access to the pronunciation without having to rework all dictionaries to IPA notation, the
286:
and
Charles Merriam secured publishing and revision rights to the 1840 edition of the dictionary. They published a revision in 1847, which did not change any of the main text but merely added new sections, and a second update with illustrations in 1859. In 1864, Merriam published a greatly expanded
380:. The most notable change was the inclusion of the date of the first known citation of each word, to document its entry into the English language. The eleventh edition (published in 2003) includes more than 225,000 definitions, and more than 165,000 entries. A
266:, that did not appear in British dictionaries. At the age of 70 in 1828, Webster published his dictionary; it sold poorly, with only 2,500 copies, and put him in debt. However, in 1840, he published the second edition in two volumes with much greater success.
215:. To help him trace the etymology of words, Webster learned 26 languages. Webster hoped to standardize American speech, since Americans in different parts of the country used somewhat different vocabularies and spelled, pronounced, and used words differently.
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in their dictionaries—intended to help people from different parts of the United States learn how to pronounce words the same way as others who spoke with the same accent or dialect did.
586:
in their paper citation files. The earliest entries in the paper citation files date back to the late 19th century. Since 2009, all new entries are recorded in an electronic database.
796:, 15th edition, New York and London: University of Chicago Press, 2003, Chapter 7: "Spelling, Distinctive Treatment of Words, and Compounds", Section 7.1 "Introduction", p. 278.
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294:. This began a series of revisions that were described as being "unabridged" in content. In 1884 it contained 118,000 words, "3000 more than any other English dictionary".
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Since the 1940s, the company has added many specialized dictionaries, language aides, and other references to its repertoire. The company has been a subsidiary of
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The dictionary maintains an active social media presence, where it frequently posts dictionary related content as well as its takes on politics. Its
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edition, which was the first version to change
Webster's text, largely overhauling his work yet retaining many of his definitions and the title "
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376:(the main text of which has remained virtually unrevised since 1961). Some proper names were returned to the word list, including names of
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The G. & C. Merriam
Company lost its right to exclusive use of the name "Webster" after a series of lawsuits placed that name in
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384:
of the text is sometimes included. This dictionary is preferred as a source "for general matters of spelling" by the influential
186:, acquired Merriam-Webster, Inc., as a subsidiary. The company adopted its current name, Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, in 1982.
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211:. In 1807 Webster started two decades of intensive work to expand his publication into a fully comprehensive dictionary,
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353:, or avoiding complete sentences when a phrase was sufficient. Others, more controversial, signaled a shift from
222:. His 1820s book contained 70,000 words, of which about 12,000 had never appeared in a dictionary before. As a
349:, making changes that sparked public controversy. Many of these changes were in formatting, omitting needless
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service that provides subscribers the opportunity to create and submit their own new words and definitions.
443:
In 1996, Merriam-Webster launched its first website, which provided free access to an online dictionary and
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editions of 1909 and 1934, totaling over half a million words, with the 1934 edition retrospectively called
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Merriam creates entries by finding uses of a particular word in print and recording them in a database of
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226:, Webster believed that English spelling rules were unnecessarily complex, so his dictionary introduced
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was introduced in 1898 and the series is now in its eleventh edition. Following the publication of
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adopted changes which distinguish it as a separate entity rather than merely an abridgment of the
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from
Webster's estate. All Merriam-Webster dictionaries trace their lineage to this source.
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On
February 16, 2007, Merriam-Webster announced the launch of a mobile dictionary and
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Webster completed his dictionary during his year abroad in 1825 in Paris, and at the
390:, which is followed by many book publishers and magazines in the United States. The
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227:
808:"Merriam-Webster: A 200-year-old dictionary offers hot political takes on Twitter"
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online services of
Merriam-Webster specify phonetics using a less-specific set of
860:"Kyle Rittenhouse Gets Trolled By Merriam-Webster Dictionary for Crying in Court"
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523:. Consumers use the service to access definitions, spelling and synonyms via
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account has frequently used dictionary jargon to criticize and lampoon the
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Pronunciation respelling for
English § Traditional respelling systems
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The Week: A Canadian
Journal of Politics, Literature, Science and Arts
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editions. Merriam overhauled the dictionary again with the 1961
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service developed with mobile search-and-information provider
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states that it "normally opts for" the first spelling listed.
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at the
Amherst College Archives & Special Collections
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or simply "The Second Edition" of the New International.
637:"Attention, New Englanders: Fluffernutter Is Now a Word"
904:"AskMeNow and Merriam-Webster Launch Mobile Dictionary"
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The Merriam-Webster company once used a unique set of
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With the edition of 1890, the dictionary was retitled
431:. In one viral tweet, Merriam Webster subtly accused
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editions were issued as abridgments of each of their
450:Merriam-Webster has also published dictionaries of
205:In 1806, Webster published his first dictionary,
963:Book publishing companies based in Massachusetts
954:
835:"18 Times Merriam-Webster Was a Political Troll"
697:"An American Dictionary of the English Language"
208:A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language
361:American English as it was used at that time.
213:An American Dictionary of the English Language
176:An American Dictionary of the English Language
968:Companies based in Springfield, Massachusetts
615:Webster's Third New International Dictionary
602:Lists of Merriam-Webster's Words of the Year
527:. Services also include Merriam-Webster's
254:. He also added American words, including
29:
465:Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary
409:in 1983. Previous publications had used "
407:Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary
366:Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary
988:Publishing companies established in 1831
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301:. The vocabulary was vastly expanded in
806:Pitofsky, Marina (September 13, 2019).
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317:Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
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173:died, the company bought the rights to
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874:"Timeline: Merriam-Webster Milestones"
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902:Trusca, Sorin (February 16, 2007).
756:Fatsis, Stefan (January 12, 2015).
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635:Correa, Carla (November 3, 2021).
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368:(WNNCD), published in 1983), the
342:Webster's Third New International
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758:"The Definition of a Dictionary"
282:In 1843, after Webster's death,
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510:Encyclopedia of World Religions
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24:Merriam-Webster, Incorporated
732:(10): 160. February 11, 1884
672:"Merriam-Webster Dictionary"
411:A Merriam-Webster Dictionary
150:and is mostly known for its
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793:The Chicago Manual of Style
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405:", with the publication of
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303:Webster's New International
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378:Knights of the Round Table
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364:With the ninth edition (
502:Collegiate Encyclopedia
374:Third New International
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329:Webster's International
299:Webster's International
220:University of Cambridge
161:founded the company as
722:"Webster's Unabridged"
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289:An American Dictionary
547:Further information:
325:Collegiate Dictionary
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274:Further information:
230:spellings, replacing
163:G & C Merriam Co.
87:Headquarters location
983:Reference publishers
914:on November 12, 2021
608:Webster's Dictionary
543:Pronunciation guides
494:Secretarial Handbook
490:Collegiate Thesaurus
429:Trump administration
277:Webster's Dictionary
270:Merriam as publisher
978:Webby Award winners
884:on January 13, 2015
108:online dictionaries
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943:of Merriam-Webster
642:The New York Times
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319:, Eleventh Edition
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224:spelling reformer
169:. In 1843, after
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100:Publication types
79:Country of origin
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337:Unabridged
333:Collegiate
918:March 14,
908:Softpedia
772:1091-2339
736:April 26,
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580:citations
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470:biography
460:geography
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182:In 1964,
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813:The Hill
777:July 12,
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681:June 24,
590:See also
521:AskMeNow
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