19th century In 1806, Webster published his first dictionary,
A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language. The following year, in 1807, Webster began two consecutive decades of intensive work to expand his publication into a fully comprehensive dictionary,
An American Dictionary of the English Language. To help trace the etymology of words, Webster learned 26 languages. Webster hoped to standardize American speech, since Americans in different parts of the
United States used somewhat different vocabularies and spelled, pronounced, and used words differently. In 1825, while spending a year abroad at the
University of Cambridge and then in Paris, Webster completed this dictionary, which featured 70,000 words, about 12,000 of which had never before appeared in a dictionary. A
spelling reformer, Webster believed that
English spelling rules were unnecessarily complex and used the dictionary to introduce
American English spellings, replacing
colour with
color,
waggon with
wagon, and
centre with
center. He also added American words, including
skunk and
squash, that did not appear in British dictionaries. Three years later, at age of 70 in 1828, Webster published the dictionary. But the dictionary proved a commercial disappointment, selling only 2,500 copies and leaving him in debt. In 1840, however, he released a second edition, which was published in two volumes and proved a vastly greater commercial success. In 1843, following Webster's death,
George Merriam and Charles Merriam secured publishing and revision rights to Webster's 1840 dictionary. Four years later, in 1847, they published a revised version of it, which did not change any of the main text but added new sections. In 1859, they published a second update with illustrations. In 1864, Merriam published a greatly expanded edition, which was the first version to change Webster's text, largely overhauling his work yet retaining many of his definitions and the title,
An American Dictionary. In 1884, the edition contained 118,000 words, "3000 more than any other English dictionary". In 1890, they published a dictionary, which they retitled ''Webster's International
. The vocabulary was vastly expanded in Webster's New International
editions published in 1909 and 1934, featuring over half a million words. Their 1934 edition was retrospectively called Webster's Second International'', or simply "The Second Edition" of the New International. In 1898,
Collegiate Dictionary, now in its twelfth edition, was introduced. In 1890, following publication of ''Webster's International
, two Collegiate
editions were issued as abridgments of each of their Unabridged'' editions.
20th century Since the 1940s, the company has released several specialized dictionaries, language aides, and other references. In 1961, Merriam overhauled the dictionary again, publishing ''
Webster's Third New International'', edited by
Philip B. Gove, whose revisions sparked public controversy. Many of the changes were in formatting, omitting needless
punctuation, or avoiding complete sentences when a phrase was sufficient. Other more controversial revisions signaled a shift from
linguistic prescriptivism and towards
describing American English as it was used at that time. In 1964, the company became a subsidiary of
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. The dictionary maintains an active social media presence, where it frequently posts dictionary-related content and its views on politics. Its
Twitter account frequently used dictionary jargon to criticize and lampoon the
Trump administration. In November 2021, for instance, Merriam Webster subtly accused
Kyle Rittenhouse of fake crying at his trial in a tweet that went viral. This dictionary is the preferred source "for general matters of spelling" by
The Chicago Manual of Style, which is followed by many U.S.-based book publishers and magazines. The
Chicago Manual states that it "normally opts" for the first spelling listed. ==Services==