Webster's Third New International Dictionary: Since 1847 the Ultimate Word Authority for Schools, Libraries, Courts, Homes, and Offices [Hardcover]

Webster's (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2002 | ISBN-10: 0877792011 | ISBN-13: 978-0877792017

Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, is the largest, most comprehensive American dictionary available, containing over 472,000 entries, 14,000 new words in a special Addenda Section, 3,000 illustrations, and 140,000 etymologies describing word origins. Boxed hardcover, buckram binding, thumb-notched.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If big is better, the unabridged Webster's Third New International Dictionary is among the best. Weighing 12.5 pounds and measuring 4 inches thick, its 2,662 pages define more than 450,000 words spanning "a" to "zyzzogeton," including words ("disselboom" for instance) not found in other dictionaries, plus clear definitions, comprehensive etymologies, interesting asides, literary usage quotes, and a comfortable typeface. More than 150 years of accumulated scholarship helped collect the 10,000,000 usage examples that accurately provide definitions, and $3,500,000 went into producing this impressive volume. With Webster's Third you get a lot of dictionary for your money.

About the Author

The Merriam brothers desired a continuity of editorship that would link Noah Webster's efforts with their own editions, so they selected Chauncey A. Goodrich, Webster's son-in-law and literary heir, who had been trained in lexicography by Webster himself, to be their editor in chief. Webster's son William also served as an editor of that first Merriam-Webster dictionary, which was published on September 24, 1847.

Although Webster's work was honored, his big dictionaries had never sold well. The 1828 edition was priced at a whopping $20; in 13 years its 2,500 copies had not sold out. Similarly, the 1841 edition, only slightly more affordable at $15, moved slowly. Assuming that a lower price would increase sales, the Merriams introduced the 1847 edition at $6, and although Webster's heirs initially questioned this move, extraordinary sales that brought them $250,000 in royalties over the ensuing 25 years convinced them that the Merriams' decision had been abundantly sound.

The first Merriam-Webster dictionary was greeted with wide acclaim. President James K. Polk, General Zachary Taylor (hero of the Mexican War and later president himself), 31 U.S. senators, and other prominent people hailed it unreservedly. In 1850 its acceptance as a resource for students began when Massachusetts ordered a copy for every school and New York placed a similar order for 10,000 copies to be used in schools throughout the state. Eventually school use would spread throughout the country. In becoming America's most trusted authority on the English language, Merriam-Webster dictionaries had taken on a role of public responsibility demanded of few other publishing companies. 

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 2783 pages
• Publisher: Merriam Webster (June 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0877792011
• ISBN-13: 978-0877792017
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 3.3 x 13 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (102 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #116,683 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

450 of 479 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars W3 or OED? March 29, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

There are only two definitive English language dictionaries: Webster's Third (W3) and the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).

The OED has the advantage of scholarship, prestige and preeminence: it is generally regarded as the gold standard in the definition of English words. It achieves this primarily by citing historical books and manuscripts, going back in many cases to the dark ages, when the language itself was evolving. Comprising some 22 volumes and requiring more than three feet of shelf space, it is an impressive addition to anyone's library, albeit at a high cost. It is available, again at high cost, on CD ROM.

W3 is a single volume about four inches wide. It offers a precise definition of every word you will ever encounter (450,000 are listed) except for slang and jargon, obsolete words, technical vocabularies and recent additions to the language. It is not above providing an occasional literary allusion. It defines the English language.

Suppose you want to look up the word "synecdoche." Which of the following scenarios do you prefer?

(1) Find volume 10 of the OED and learn that Wyclif (1338) defined it as "whanne a part is set for al, either al is set for oo par . . ."

(2) Start computer, find CD ROM, load CD ROM, go to OED, step through program, find information, unload CD ROM, turn off computer, file CD ROM, go back to what you were doing in the first place.

(3) Open W3 and read "a figure of speech by which a part is put for a whole (as fifty sail for fifty ships) . . ."

W3 is THE dictionary. It belongs in everyone's home. At the listed price it is an incredible bargain. Highly recommended.

283 of 307 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good reference book, but... January 23, 2001

By Charles Sebree

Format:Hardcover

I have wished for a long time for the CD version of the Oxford English Dictionary and was on the verge of buying it until I read a review that expressed disappointment with OED-CD ease of use. The reviewer highly recommended Websters 3rd New International Dictionary:Unabridged which I purchased instead. The program is very easy to use and easily links to my MS Word.

I do have four disappointments - First, I have a real interest in etymology and though the NID:U has an etymology section it is very brief.

Second, though the CD is dated 2000 I have wondered just how up-to-date it is. For example, the word "internet" is not found.

Third, many of the illustrations in the print version are NOT in the CD version. That is a big disappointment.

Fourth, the dictionary does not contain many proper nouns or names. For example, out of the many uses for the word "Lincoln" not one definition lists Abraham as in President; neither is there any listing for Jefferson, either as President or Memorial. Look up Georgia and you will find that it is a state but there is no reference to the now country of Georgia, a former Soviet Republic. Look up any of the planets, Saturn, Venus, Mars, etc. and you find no mention of these words as describing the planets! The more I look the more disappointed I become. It is sold as an "unabridged" dictionary and according to the definition means complete, which the Wester's 3rd New International:Unabridged is not.

225 of 246 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars what a piece of junk! May 10, 2005

By Caraculiambro

Format:Hardcover

Something tells me you wouldn't be on this page, reading these reviews, unless you shared an acute and probably pedantic interest in words and their meanings. I ain't no different.

For about a decade now, I have been using Random House's Unabridged, which is equally weighty and was minted in 1987. I've been looking for something newer, and I thought the time had come when Webster's came out with this monster, late in the fall of 2000.

Although I was intent on buying the book, standing in the checkout line, I asked if I might not be permitted to open and examine it, just for larks.

Imagine my suprise on discovering that this book was actually printed in 1961, and is in fact almost entirely the same text! The typeset hasn't been touched since then! Folks, it's merely a re-issue of their 1961 edition.

Yes, they did add an absorbing "Special Addenda Section of New Words" toward the front of the dictionary (80-100pp, I'm guessing), but they couldn't be bothered to include these neologisms in the main text, presumably because resetting the 1961 proofs would have been too much work for Webster & co . . . ?

And if Webster & Co. couldn't be bothered to alphabetize these news words into the main body of this dictionary, I'm guessing the poor overworked editors were too busy to correct errors and typos in the main text either! Why? What is Webster's doing now? Have they started a chain of hotels or something?

I SOOOOO wanted to buy and love this book, and was SOOOOO angry to find it a con. I couldn't believe it!

Admittedly, the neologism section was VERY interesting, but you're basically paying all that moolah for that, you should understand. Perhaps you should buy the book, photocopy this section, then return the book for a full refund the next day.

Although this would be unethical, it was equally unethical, I feel, for Webster's to have grandly let on like they had drafted a completely new dictionary, when in fact they had done nothing of the kind.

Another consideration for the prospective buyer is that ideas about readability (i.e. the use of fonts, boldface, and italics to make the text more negotiable) were a lot more primitive in 1961, and, naturally, nothing has been done about that, either. In other words, the columns are very hard on the eye.

Until somebody comes along with another giant dictionary like this, but one that reflects true work and revision, I'm sticking with my old Random House.

UPDATE: I've since read (about 2010) that Webster's is in fact working up a newly reworked unabridged dictionary, to be out soon -- of the sort that I was led to believe this was. Maybe you should hold out for that one.