The third edition of the American Heritage Dictionary is a beauty--2,134 pages and 8.5 pounds--containing a lexicon of more than 200,000 entries, plus an appendix of Indo-European roots for etymology enthusiasts. The crisp white pages and sharp black print are easy on the eyes, the drawings and pictures (nearly 4,000 in all) are a delight, and along with the lucid, erudite definitions are 4,000-plus quoted illustrations of usage from the likes of Shakespeare, Melville, and Updike. Though it's the chosen reference of editors, it's more than a mere tool of the trade--it's a luxurious linguistic experience.
From Library Journal
Heftier (7 lbs. vs. 4 lbs.) and more expensive than competing adult desk dictionaries ($40 vs. $20), the new edition of The American Heritage Dictionary ( AHD3 ) will especially appeal to those who found the original (1969. o.p.) a refreshingly readable, attractive, and candid source of lexical information. The hallmarks of the first edition--handsome graphics and format, accessible definitions and etymologies, hardnosed advice on usage questions--are all here, updated to reflect American English as used in the early 1990s. AHD3 's stats (yes, that's a word, you can look it up) are impressive: 200,000 "boldface forms"; 16,000 new words and meanings including such recent constructions as birthparent , date rape , moonquake , slam-dunk , and wellness ; 30,000 illustrative examples prepared by the staff and more than 4000 quotations from reputable writers and publications; 30,500 etymologies, complemented by 400 word histories and 100 regional notes; 900 synonymies; and 4000 pictorial illustrations, 80 percent of which are new. The Usage Panel, a familiar feature of previous editions, has now grown to 173 members and includes more women, English professors, and linguists. The panel offers 500-plus usage notes, many quite lengthy, that render stern, usually conservative judgments on questionable usage (see the flout / flaunt controversy, for example). AHD3 measures up well against the major competition--the Random House Webster's College Dictionary ( LJ 6/15/91), Webster's New World Dictionary (Prentice Hall Pr., 1988. 3d ed.), and Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictio nary ( LJ 9/1/83). All libraries of any consequence need the new edition of the American Heritage Dictionary . For an interview with editor Soukhanov, see "Dictionaries Defined," LJ , June 15, p. 44-45.--Ed.
- Ken Kister, author of "Best Encyclope dias," Tampa, Fla.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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