Webster's New World Dictionary Explained

Italic Title:Webster's New World Dictionary
Publisher:Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publisher2:HarperCollins
Published:1951
Media Type:Dictionary

Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language is an American dictionary published first in 1951 and since 2022 by HarperCollins Publishers.[1]

Overview

The first edition was published by the World Publishing Company of Cleveland, Ohio, in two volumes or one large volume, including a large encyclopedic section. In 1953, World published a one-volume college edition (Webster's New World College Dictionary), without the encyclopedic material. It was edited by Joseph H. Friend and David B. Guralnik[2] [3] [4] and contained 142,000 entries, said to be the largest American desk dictionary available at the time.

The second college edition, edited by Guralnik, was published in 1970. World Publishing was acquired by Simon & Schuster in 1980 and they continued the work with a third edition in 1989 edited by Victoria Neufeldt. A fourth edition was edited by Michael Agnes and published by John Wiley & Sons in 1999, containing 160,000 entries; a fifth, edited by Andrew N. Sparks et al. and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2014, contains around 165,000.[5]

One of the salient features of Webster's New World dictionaries has been its unusually full etymology, that is, the origin and development of words and the relationship of words to other Indo-European languages. The work also labels words which have a distinctly American origin.

The college edition is the official desk dictionary of The New York Times,[6] The Wall Street Journal,[7] The Washington Post,[8] and United Press International.[9] It was the primary dictionary of the AP Stylebook from 1977[10] [11] until 2024, when it reverted to Merriam-Webster.[12] [13]

Publisher

Although the title refers to Noah Webster, the work is unrelated to the series of Webster's dictionaries published by the Merriam-Webster Company, which indeed are descended directly from Noah Webster's original publications. By contrast, Webster's New World Dictionary merely cites Webster as a generic name for any American English dictionary, as does Random House's line of Webster's Unabridged and derived dictionaries.

Webster's New World student and children's editions are produced for younger readers.

See also

External links

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Editors of Webster's New World College Dictionaries . . 2022-06-10 . 2022-06-09 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220609095430/https://www.harpercollins.com/blogs/authors/editors-of-websters-new-world-college-dictionaries-74661 . live.
  2. Web site: David B. Guralnik, Lexicographer, 1921–2000 . Gottlieb . Mark . Cleveland Arts Prize . December 2, 2018 . November 14, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191114193017/http://clevelandartsprize.org/awardees/david_guralnik.html . live .
  3. Web site: David Guralnik, Lexicographer, Dies at 79 . Cushman . John H. Jr. . The New York Times . December 2, 2018 . December 3, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181203153848/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/22/us/david-guralnik-lexicographer-dies-at-79.html . live .
  4. Book: Guralnik, David B. . 1953 . The making of a new dictionary : a paper read before the Rowfant Club, November 30, 1951 . Cleveland and New York . The World Publishing Company . 11 . 53005527 .
  5. News: Michael K. . McIntyre . With publication of Webster's 'College 5' dictionary, the book that defined Cleveland editors' work is closed . . 2014-10-17 . 2014-10-19 . 2014-10-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141021203846/http://www.cleveland.com/tipoff/index.ssf/2014/10/with_publication_websters_coll.html . live .
  6. Book: Siegal. Allan M.. Connolly. William. The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage. 2015. The New York Times Company. 5th. https://books.google.com/books?id=o2E5BgAAQBAJ&pg=PT456. spelling. 9781101903223. 2016-11-26. 2023-03-05. https://web.archive.org/web/20230305220115/https://books.google.com/books?id=o2E5BgAAQBAJ&pg=PT456. live.
  7. Book: Martin. Paul. The Wall Street Journal Guide to Business Style and Usage. 2002. Simon & Schuster. 68. https://books.google.com/books?id=3mjxg9iNAQUC&pg=PA68. dictionary. 9781439122693. 2016-11-26. 2023-03-05. https://web.archive.org/web/20230305220115/https://books.google.com/books?id=3mjxg9iNAQUC&pg=PA68. live.
  8. Book: Lippman. Thomas W.. The Washington Post Deskbook on Style. 1989. McGraw-Hill. 219–220. 9780070684140. 2021-05-13. 2021-08-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20210816084217/https://books.google.com/books?id=_yTuAAAAMAAJ&q=Webster%27s. live.
  9. Book: Martin. Harold. Cook. Bruce. UPI Style Book & Guide to Newswriting. 2004. United Press International. xvii. 4th. 9781931868587. 2016-11-26. 2023-03-05. https://web.archive.org/web/20230305220115/https://books.google.com/books?id=VKnFXo6tH7cC&pg=PR17. live.
  10. Book: Angione. Howard. The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual. 1977. New York. Associated Press. 68. 1st. dictionaries. 9780917360015. https://books.google.com/books?id=94IqAQAAIAAJ&q=Webster%27s. 2021-05-13. 2021-08-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20210816060949/https://books.google.com/books?id=94IqAQAAIAAJ&q=Webster%27s. live.
  11. Book: The Associated Press Stylebook. 2016. New York. Associated Press. 9780465093380. 2016-11-26. 2023-03-05. https://web.archive.org/web/20230305220140/https://books.google.com/books?id=EKrKDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA5. live.
  12. Web site: A new primary dictionary for the AP Stylebook . Nicole . Meir . 5 April 2024 . Associated Press .
  13. Book: Winkler . G. P. . The Associated Press Stylebook . 1970 . New York . Associated Press. 20. Revised . Spelling 6.1 . https://archive.org/details/ap-stylebooks/1970_Stylebook/page/20/mode/1up.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Webster's New World Dictionary".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.