Webster's Third New International Dictionary

Webster's Third New International Dictionary is the most comprehensive American dictionary of English. It is the flagship publication of Merriam-Webster, tracing its ancestry back to the dictionaries of Noah Webster. Although it does not attempt to cover the history of the language in the way that the Oxford English Dictionary does, in its online form it is at least competitive, and possibly superior, to the OED as a snapshot of the language at any given time. It claims to have more than half again as many entries (470,000 http://www.merriam-webster.com/premium/mwunabridged/ as compared to 300,000 http://www.oed.com/about/facts.html), and its editors appear to revisit any given part of the alphabet more frequently. The OED, however, contains much more material about each word it defines.

Related Topics:
Merriam-Webster - Noah Webster - Oxford English Dictionary

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The Third New International is known for having carefully worded definitions and for an attention to detail in its pronunciation keys, attempting to cover the way a word is actually pronounced in the running speach of educated speakers. The entry for 'and' contains a surprising number of pronunciations, ranging from /ænd/ for the word spoken in isolation, to /?n/ in some unaccented contexts, to simply /n/ as in (to use their example) "butter'n'eggs".

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Its attention to the way the language is actually used in practice has led to controversy. It has few usage labels indicating that a word or usage is nonstandard, and it was fiercely criticized when it was first published in 1964. However, it remains the yardstick for all other American dictionaries.

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See also Webster's Dictionary.

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