593:. 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
42:
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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
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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
391:. 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
277:, 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.
226:. 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.
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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.
978:
807:, 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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305:. 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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387:(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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of the text is sometimes included. This dictionary is preferred as a source "for general matters of spelling" by the influential
197:, acquired Merriam-Webster, Inc., as a subsidiary. The company adopted its current name, Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, in 1982.
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233:. His 1820s book contained 70,000 words, of which about 12,000 had never appeared in a dictionary before. As a
360:, 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.
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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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237:, 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
401:, which is followed by many book publishers and magazines in the United States. The
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819:"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
871:"Kyle Rittenhouse Gets Trolled By Merriam-Webster Dictionary for Crying in Court"
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534:. Consumers use the service to access definitions, spelling and synonyms via
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499:, Spanish/English, and numerous others. Non-dictionary publications include
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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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609:, noted lexicographer/editor/social media personality at Merriam-Webster
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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.
165:. It is the oldest dictionary publisher in the United States.
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at the
Amherst College Archives & Special Collections
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or simply "The Second Edition" of the New International.
648:"Attention, New Englanders: Fluffernutter Is Now a Word"
915:"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
442:. In one viral tweet, Merriam Webster subtly accused
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editions were issued as abridgments of each of their
461:Merriam-Webster has also published dictionaries of
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216:In 1806, Webster published his first dictionary,
974:Book publishing companies based in Massachusetts
846:"18 Times Merriam-Webster Was a Political Troll"
708:"An American Dictionary of the English Language"
219:A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language
372:American English as it was used at that time.
224:An American Dictionary of the English Language
187:An American Dictionary of the English Language
979:Companies based in Springfield, Massachusetts
8:
626:Webster's Third New International Dictionary
613:Lists of Merriam-Webster's Words of the Year
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538:. Services also include Merriam-Webster's
265:. He also added American words, including
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476:Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary
420:in 1983. Previous publications had used "
418:Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary
377:Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary
999:Publishing companies established in 1831
312:. The vocabulary was vastly expanded in
817:Pitofsky, Marina (September 13, 2019).
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328:Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
184:died, the company bought the rights to
958:G. & C. Merriam Company Collection
885:"Timeline: Merriam-Webster Milestones"
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913:Trusca, Sorin (February 16, 2007).
767:Fatsis, Stefan (January 12, 2015).
646:Correa, Carla (November 3, 2021).
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379:(WNNCD), published in 1983), the
353:Webster's Third New International
27:American publisher and dictionary
769:"The Definition of a Dictionary"
293:In 1843, after Webster's death,
521:Encyclopedia of World Religions
712:Encyclopædia Britannica Online
687:Encyclopædia Britannica Online
509:Manual for Writers and Editors
318:Webster's Second International
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446:of fake crying at his trial.
429:Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
414:Merriam-Webster, Incorporated
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683:"Merriam-Webster Dictionary"
422:A Merriam-Webster Dictionary
161:and is mostly known for its
66:; 193 years ago
984:Online English dictionaries
804:The Chicago Manual of Style
416:", with the publication of
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398:The Chicago Manual of Style
314:Webster's New International
18:G. & C. Merriam Company
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517:Encyclopedia of Literature
389:Knights of the Round Table
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178:Springfield, Massachusetts
170:George and Charles Merriam
104:Springfield, Massachusetts
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375:With the ninth edition (
513:Collegiate Encyclopedia
385:Third New International
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340:Webster's International
310:Webster's International
231:University of Cambridge
172:founded the company as
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558:Further information:
336:Collegiate Dictionary
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285:Further information:
241:spellings, replacing
174:G & C Merriam Co.
98:Headquarters location
994:Reference publishers
925:on November 12, 2021
619:Webster's Dictionary
554:Pronunciation guides
505:Secretarial Handbook
501:Collegiate Thesaurus
440:Trump administration
288:Webster's Dictionary
281:Merriam as publisher
989:Webby Award winners
895:on January 13, 2015
119:online dictionaries
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954:of Merriam-Webster
653:The New York Times
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330:, Eleventh Edition
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235:spelling reformer
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370:describing
348:Unabridged
344:Collegiate
929:March 14,
919:Softpedia
783:1091-2339
747:April 26,
662:0362-4331
591:citations
528:thesaurus
481:biography
471:geography
456:thesaurus
193:In 1964,
168:In 1831,
824:The Hill
788:July 12,
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692:June 24,
601:See also
532:AskMeNow
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