Merriam-Webster facts for kids
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| Parent company | Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |
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| Founded | 1831 |
| Founder | George Merriam, Charles Merriam |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Headquarters location | 47 Federal Street, Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Publication types | Reference books, online dictionaries |
| Owner(s) | Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |
Merriam-Webster, Incorporated is an American company famous for publishing reference books, especially dictionaries. It is the oldest dictionary publisher in the United States.
In 1831, brothers George and Charles Merriam started the company as G & C Merriam Co. in Springfield, Massachusetts. After Noah Webster passed away in 1843, the company bought the rights to his famous book, An American Dictionary of the English Language. All Merriam-Webster dictionaries today come from this original work.
In 1964, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. bought Merriam-Webster, Inc. The company officially changed its name to Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, in 1982.
Contents
The Story of Merriam-Webster Dictionaries
Noah Webster's First Dictionary
In 1806, Noah Webster published his first dictionary, A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language. He then spent 20 years working hard to make a much bigger dictionary. This huge project was called An American Dictionary of the English Language.
To find out where words came from (their etymology), Webster learned 26 different languages! He wanted to make American English more standard. At the time, people in different parts of the U.S. used words and spelled them differently.
Webster finished his dictionary in 1825 while he was in Paris and at the University of Cambridge. His 1828 book had 70,000 words. About 12,000 of these words had never been in a dictionary before.
Webster also wanted to make English spelling simpler. He changed spellings like colour to color and centre to center. He also added American words, such as skunk and squash. These words were not found in British dictionaries.
Webster published his dictionary when he was 70 years old. It didn't sell well at first, and he ended up in debt. However, his second edition in 1840 was much more successful.
Merriam Takes Over Publishing
In 1843, after Noah Webster died, George and Charles Merriam bought the rights to his dictionary. They could now publish and update the 1840 edition. Their first update in 1847 added new sections but didn't change the main text. They added illustrations in 1859.
In 1864, Merriam published a much larger edition. This was the first time Webster's original text was significantly changed. However, it kept many of his definitions and the title "An American Dictionary". This started a series of "unabridged" (complete) dictionary updates. By 1884, it had 118,000 words, which was more than any other English dictionary.
The 1890 edition was renamed Webster's International. Later, Webster's New International editions in 1909 and 1934 greatly expanded the vocabulary. The 1934 edition had over half a million words.
The Collegiate Dictionary series began in 1898. It is now in its eleventh edition. These "Collegiate" dictionaries were shorter versions of the larger "Unabridged" editions.
In 1961, Merriam updated the dictionary again with Webster's Third New International Dictionary. This version made some big changes. It removed unnecessary punctuation and used phrases instead of full sentences for definitions. More importantly, it changed how dictionaries describe language. Instead of telling people how language *should* be used, it focused on describing how American English *was* actually being used at the time.
The ninth edition, Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (WNNCD), came out in 1983. This edition became more independent from the Third New International. It brought back some proper names, like those of the Knights of the Round Table. The most important change was adding the date each word was first known to be used in English.
The eleventh edition (2003) has over 225,000 definitions. It often comes with a CD-ROM version. Many publishers and magazines in the U.S. use this dictionary for spelling.
The G. & C. Merriam Company lost its special right to use the name "Webster" after some lawsuits. This meant anyone could use the name. So, in 1983, the company changed its name to "Merriam-Webster, Incorporated". Older books might say "A Merriam-Webster Dictionary" as a subtitle.
Since the 1940s, the company has added many special dictionaries. These include books about specific topics, language helpers, and other reference materials. Merriam-Webster has been part of Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1964.
Merriam-Webster also has a popular presence on social media. They often share interesting facts about words and how language is used. They sometimes use dictionary terms to comment on current events.
Merriam-Webster Services
In 1996, Merriam-Webster launched its first website. This site gave people free access to an online dictionary and thesaurus.
Merriam-Webster has published many other types of dictionaries. These include dictionaries of synonyms (words with similar meanings), English usage, geography (Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary), biography (about people's lives), proper names, medical terms, sports terms, slang, and Spanish/English.
They also publish non-dictionary books. Examples include the Collegiate Thesaurus, Secretarial Handbook, and encyclopedias about literature and world religions.
In 2007, Merriam-Webster started a mobile dictionary and thesaurus service. People could get definitions and spellings by text message. They also offered a "Word of the Day" and an "Open Dictionary." The "Open Dictionary" was a wiki service where users could suggest new words and definitions.
How Pronunciation is Shown
Merriam-Webster dictionaries used to have their own special symbols to show how words are pronounced. These symbols helped people from different parts of the U.S. say words in a similar way.
Today, the internet uses a standard set of symbols called Unicode. While Unicode now supports Merriam-Webster's symbols, their online services often use simpler ASCII characters. This makes it easier for computers to show pronunciations without changing all their dictionaries.
How Dictionary Entries Are Written
Merriam-Webster creates dictionary entries by finding how words are used in print. They record these uses in a huge database called a citation file. Editors spend about an hour each day looking at books, newspapers, and even ads. They study how words are used and pick examples to save in the citation file.
Merriam-Webster's citation file has over 16 million examples of words being used. Millions of these examples were once written on 3-by-5 cards in paper files. The oldest paper entries go back to the late 1800s. Since 2009, all new examples are saved in a computer database.
See also
In Spanish: Merriam-Webster para niños
- Kory Stamper, a famous dictionary editor and social media personality at Merriam-Webster
- Lists of Merriam-Webster's Words of the Year
- Webster's Dictionary
- Webster's Third New International Dictionary
