Details
Title: Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged
Volumes: 3 (my copy)
Language: English
Publisher: Merriam-Webster (normally); Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. (my copy)
Year: 1961 (original); 1981 (my copy - includes addenda)
Pages: 2662; my copy has 3136 split between Webster's (2662) and the Britannica World Language Dictionary (474)
There have literally been multiple books written about this dictionary and the controversy surrounding it.
Webster's Third New International Dictionary was first published in 1961 and was a complete overhaul (costing $3.5 million, or about $30 million in 2019 dollars) with a totally new editorial direction. It was this new editorial direction that caused so much noise: this dictionary, though not a historical dictionary like the Oxford English Dictionary, was crafted as a descriptive work, not a prescriptive one - it presents the language of its time as it is, not as grammarians and educators wish it to be. As editor Philip Gove wrote in the preface, "This new Merriam-Webster unabridged is the record of this language as it is written and spoken" (5a). This is what set off the alarm bells, with newspaper and magazine columns pointing out the existence of entries like ain't presented without any labels of judgment. Again from the preface: "prescriptive and canonical definitions have not been taken over nor have recommendations been followed unless confirmed by independent investigation of usage borne out by genuine citations" (4a). This lack of value judgment was presented as one of the 7 key new features of the dictionary: "(6) the recognition (by not using at all the status label colloquial) that it is impossible to know whether a word out of context is colloquial or not" (4a), and extends beyond the word list and definitions to include regional variations of pronunciation: "This edition shows as far as possible the pronunciations prevailing in general cultivated conversational usage, both informal and formal, throughout the English-speaking world. It does not attempt to dictate what that usage should be" (4a).
The dictionary begins with the above-mentioned preface and follows that up with a list of the editorial staff and consultants, explanatory notes for using the dictionary, guides to spelling and the formation of plurals and compound words, a guide to pronunciation, a note on how to formally address different people, and a list of abbreviations and special symbols used by the dictionary - actual abbreviations common to the language are given entries alongside other headwords in the main body of the text. My copy was printed in 1981 by the Encyclopædia Britannica and is bound together with a 7-language dictionary (whose editors decided, with an admittedly "arbitrary selection of languages in widest international usage and restricted to the Western World", to include Swedish and Yiddish over more widely-spoken choices). This later printing thus also includes a 50-page addenda section with new words and definitions (addenda updates are from 1966, 1971, 1976, and 1981). The number of illustrations are kept to a minimum to save space, but there are some full-page illustrations for color, constellations, ships, and trees. Generally speaking, proper names and geographical locations have been excluded from this work, as this saves space, keeps with the editorial focus on generic words, and because the editors thought encyclopedias or other reference works would be better suited for those sorts of things.
Sample Entries
In order to provide a common ground for comparison between the various reference works in this guide, I attempt to look up the same two terms in each: "umbrella" and "Saint Louis." "Umbrella" is presented with three different entries (one for each part of speech: noun, adjective, and transitive verb) in volume 3 on p. 2481:
1um·brel·la ˌəmˈbrelə also ˈ=ˌ== n -s [It ombrella, modif. (influenced by ombra shade, shadow, fr. L umbra of L umbella parasol, umbrella, dim. of umbra — more at UMBRAGE] 1 a : a small portable usu. cloth canopy that is fastened to a frame with hinged ribs radiating from a center pole, has a circular convex shape when open, can be opened or closed by means of a sliding catch, and provides protection against the weather — see PARASOL b : a large canopy of similar design whose center pole may be placed firmly in the ground or attached esp. to a table <garden furniture with colored ～s — Christopher Morley> — see BEACH UMBRELLA 2 : something resembling an umbrella in shape or function: as a : a metal cover secured over a ship's smokestack to keep out precipitation b : a bell-shaped structure composed chiefly of jellylike mesoglea that forms the main part of the body of a jellyfish, has muscular ectodermal cells lining the lower concave surface, and serves as a swimming organ by means of contractions c (1) : the arched overhanging foliage of a tree <the creamy ～s of the hemlock — C. G. Glover> (2) : the canopy formed by leaves and branches in a wooded area <see the pine wood spread its broad ～ — Cyril Connolly> d : the open canopy of a parachute e : a formation of planes maintained over surface operations or a landmass for defense against attack <throwing up an air ～ over Europe — Springfield (Mass.) Union> f : a heavy barrage of shell fire <the main battery guns were laying an ～ over the carrier — F. J. Bell> 3 : a unifying, conditioning, stabilizing, or controlling factor, agency, category, or authoritative influence <both parties are ～s for diverse groups — J. E. McLean> <organization cost, an ～ which covers the publisher's expenses — H. M. Silver> < maintain a price ～ over the industry — A. D. H. Kaplan> <combined under the ～ of Fascism — T. E. M. McKitterick>
2umbrella ‘‘ adj 1 : of, relating to, or having the characteristics of an umbrella 2 : taking in many individuals or groups : ALL-EMBRACING <an ～ organization sheltering a host of subdivided activities — O. O. Trullinger> 3 : having a roof supported on a single post <a series of ～ sheds on a train platform>
3umbrella ‘‘ vt -ED / -ING / -S 1 : to protect or cover with or as if with an umbrella <each man ～ed from the downpour — Manchester Guardian Weekly> 2 : to provide with or as if with an umbrella <the new job . . . : to ～ the invasion — Time>
As mentioned above, geographical places are not defined in the dictionary, but words derived from geographical place names are. So although "Saint Louis" as a noun is not to be found in the Third New International, "saint louis" the adjective and the derivative noun "saint louisian" are. These can both be found on p. 2002 in volume 3:
saint lou·is -ˈlüə̇s sometimes -ˈlüē or -ˈlüi adj. usu cap S & L [fr. St. Louis, Mo.] : of or from the city of St. Louis, Mo. : of the kind or style prevalent in St. Louis
saint lou·i·san -üəsən n. pl saint louisans cap S & L [St. Louis + E -an] : a native or resident of St. Louis, Mo.
I personally really like this dictionary. I like the descriptivist approach to language and I am especially a big fan of dictionaries that make use of illustrative quotations to show how language is actually used in context. Ultimately, judgment of a dictionary should focus on the words and their definitions, and, in terms of that, this is a success, but some of the extras could have been better worked. I think, for example, that the dictionary could have done without the large diagrams of the parts of a ship, especially since it is not matched with equivalent diagrams for other contemporary machines, such as the automobile or airplane, and the color plate presenting the spectrum of colors seems overly complicated when compared with the straightforward color swatches found in Japanese-language dictionaries.