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Webster's Third New International Dictionary (1981)

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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.

Kenkyusha's Lighthouse Japanese-English Dictionary (1990)

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Title: ライトハウス和英辞典・Kenkyusha's Lighthouse Japanese-English Dictionary
Volumes: 1
Language: Japanese / English
Publisher: 研究者
Year: 1990
Pages: 1,808

I have the second edition of this dictionary. This is a pretty straight-forward Japanese-to-English dictionary with approximately 40,000 entries. Its intended audience is native Japanese speakers, but it offers a number of benefits to someone learning Japanese. Like many Kenkyusha dictionaries, it has copious example sentences with each word, providing collocations and idiomatic usage. These sentences are the dictionary's real strength, and they help a learner of either language learn vocabulary in context.

The front inner flap of the dictionary provides place names, while the back inner flap provides a list of famous people. There is a guide on usage and symbols at the beginning of the dictionary, and a one-page pronunciation guide at the end. Peppered throughout are a series of info boxes, providing the learner of English with guidance on specific topics, such as "greetings," "sports," or "restaurants." There are a few black-and-white photographs and labelled diagrams scattered throughout, but this monochromatic dictionary is mostly text.

Sample Entries

In order to allow easy comparison between the different reference works on this site, I use the same entries, where available: "umbrella" and "Saint Louis." I picked these because they generally provide shorter examples, but also because I knew that "umbrella" would likely be found in all of the dictionaries and "Saint Louis" would likely be found in all of the encyclopedias. This dictionary does not generally have place names or other proper nouns featured as entries, though Saint Louis does appear in a special chart on page 41 which lists all of the state names as well as the names of major cities in both English and katakana, next to a map of the United States on the following page. "Umbrella" has a pretty normal-sized entry for this dictionary, found on page 281.

かさ1　傘 umbrélla 🄲; (日傘) súnshàde 🄲, párasòl 🄲 ★ 前者のほうがより一般的。

¶　私は*傘をたたんだ　I ｢closed [folded] my umbrella. // *傘をさしなさい　Put up [Open] your umbrella. // 彼はきれいに巻いてあった*傘をほどいてさした　He undid his neatly rolled umbrella and put it up. // 雨が降りそうだから*傘を持って行きなさい　Take an umbrella with you. It looks like rain. // *傘に入れて下さいませんか（⇒あなたの傘を共同で使ってよろしいですか）May I share your umbrella? // 私の*傘に入りませんか　Won't you get under my umbrella? // *傘が風でおちょこになった　The wind turned my umbrella inside out. // 彼女は私に*傘をさしてくれた　She held the umbrella over me. // 他国の核の*傘の下にいて、果たして安全だろうか　Are we really safe under the nuclear umbrella of a foreign nation?

傘立て umbrella stand 🄲　傘の柄［骨］umbrella ｢handle [rib] 🄲.

The 🄲 marks countable nouns (it is common to say things like "three umbrellas"). The star (★) marks a cautionary usage note - in this case, it tells the user that the former word (umbrella) is more common than the given alternates.

A Dictionary of the English Language (1755)

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Title: A Dictionary of the English Language
Author: Samuel Johnson
Volumes: 2 (facsimile: 1)
Language: English
Publisher: F. and P Knapton, T. and T. Longman, C. Hitch and L. Hawes, A. Millar, and R. and J. Dodsley. (facsimile: Times Books)
Year: 1775 (facsimile: 1983)
Pages: 2,316

This one is particularly special to me. I'm an enormous fan of this dictionary, to the point that I started digitizing this dictionary in 2011. I handed the digitization project over to Beth Young at the University of Central Florida in 2016. (Check it out here!) Part of the impetus for digitizing it was that I had such difficulty in finding an unabridged copy of the dictionary to read; I only lucked into this particular facsimile (at a ridiculously low price to boot) a couple of years ago. This facsimile is not true-to-life sized; the pages are shrunk to about half the length and width of the actual dictionary, and both volumes have been bound together. This reduction in physical size does make it easier to read or randomly browse the dictionary, so no complaints here. The title pages are also rendered in black-and-white (the original had selective red lettering). It is a complete unabridged facsimile, though, complete with all of the introductory material and ornaments. This particular facsimile was published by Times Books (London) in 1983 through arrangement with Japan's Yushodo Booksellers and Toppan Printing Co.

A Dictionary of the English Language, by Samuel Johnson, was published in 1755 in two folio-size volumes (it's about 20 pounds in weight - not exactly light reading). It took Johnson over 9 years of work to compile, and it generally holds the designation of being the first true, thorough dictionary of the English language. Its groundbreaking quality lies in the fact that he illustrates the definitions of the words with quotes from major works of English literary, philosophical, and scientific literature (generally ranging from Spencer on to his own time); this is a feature later adopted by the Oxford English Dictionary and the Grimm brothers' Deutsches Wörterbuch. It is also known for some of the more humorous definitions peppered throughout. A lexicographer, for instance, is defined as a "writer of dictionaries; a harmless drudge, that busies himself in tracing the original, and detailing the signification of words." Johnson had attempted to get funding for the dictionary from Lord Chesterfield, who reneged on providing a financial contribution, but still attempted to coax Johnson into dedicating the work to him; in possible retribution, one of the definitions for "patron" is "a wretch who supports with insolence, and is paid with flattery."

Johnson's dictionary begins with a preface, in which he explains his general methodology for selecting, defining, and spelling words. He also apologizes for any faults in a statement I feel would resonate well with anyone now attempting to create without financial resources or abundant leisure time: "In this work, when it shall be found that much is omitted, let it not be forgotten that much likewise is performed; and though no book was ever spared out of tenderness to the authour, and the world is little solicitous to know whence proceeded the faults of that which it condemns; yet it may gratify curiosity to inform it, that the English Dictionary was written with little assistance of the learned, and without any patronage of the great; not in the soft obscurities of retirement, or under the shelter of academick bowers, but amidst inconvenience and distraction, in sickness and in sorrow: and it may repress the triumph of malignant criticism to observe, that if our language is not here fully displayed, I have only failed in an attempt which no human powers have hitherto completed."

The preface is followed by "A History of the English Language" which is essentially an anthology of early English works, starting with a piece by Alfred the Great from the 9th century and ending with a selection from Dr. Thomas Wilson's The arte of rhetorique (1553). These sometimes very long specimens are presented without translation or commentary. This is followed by "A Grammar of the English Tongue," which includes information on pronunciation, parts of speech, syntax, and poetical forms. Here is a chart to help decipher the Anglo-Saxon font used in both the "History of the English Language" and in the etymologies provided for entries throughout the dictionary:

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."


Umbre'lla. n.s. [from umbra, Lat.] A skreen used in hot countries to keep off the sun, and in others to bear off the rain.

I can carry your umbrella, and fan your ladyship. Dryden.

          Good housewives
Defended by th' umbrella's oily shed,
Safe through the wet on clinking pattens tread. Gay.

The quote by John Dryden is taken from his play Don Sebastian. The John Gay quote is from Book 1 ("Of the Implements for walking the Streets, and Signs of the Weather") of his long poem Trivia, or the Art of Walking the Streets of London.

"Saint Louis," as a geographical place name and not a word in common usage in 18th century England, does not itself have an entry, but we can cheat and split it into its constituent components to provide more examples.

SAINT. n.s. [saint, French; sanctus, Latin.] A person eminent for piety and virtue.

To thee be worship and thy saints for aye. Shakesp.

She will not stay the siege of loving terms,
Nor ope her lap to saint seducing gold. Shakespeare.

Then thus I cloath my naked villainy
With old odd ends, stol'n forth of holy writ,
And seem a saint, when most I play the devil. Shakespeare.

Miracles are required of all who aspire to this dignity, because they say an hypocrite may imitate a saint in all other particulars. Addison on Italy.

By thy example kings are taught to sway,
Heroes to fight, and saints may learn to pray. Granville.

So unaffected, so compos'd a mind;
So firm, yet soft, so strong, yet so refin'd,
Heav'n, as its purest gold, by tortures try'd,
The saint sustain'd it, but the woman dy'd. Pope.

The first Shakespeare quote is from Timon of Athens, the second is from Romeo's pining for Rosaline in Romeo and Juliet, and the third comes from Richard III. As Johnson mentions, the bit from Joseph Addison comes from his "Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703." The quotation from George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne, can be found in one of his poems dedicated "to the King." Alexander Pope's quote comes from his epitaph "On Mrs. Corbet, Who died of a Cancer in her Breast." Finally, here's the closest entry to "Louis."

LOUIS D'OR. n.s. [French.] A golden coin of France, valued at about seventeen shillings.

If he is desired to change a louis d'or, he must consider of it. Spectator, N. 305.

This number of The Spectator was written by Joseph Addison.

Be sure to visit Johnson's Dictionary Online!