devoted many years to the collection of words and the preparation of more accurate
definitions.
N. Webster realised the importance of language for the development of a
nation, and devoted his energy to giving the American English the status of an
independent language, distinct from British English. At that time the idea was
progressive as it helped the unification of separate states into one federation. In the
latest edition of Webster's International Dictionary of the English Language not
Americanisms (words not used in America) but so called Britishisms were marked
off.
N.Webster's dictionary enjoyed great popularity from its first editions. This
popularity was due not only to the accuracy and clarity of definitions but also to the
richness of additional information of encyclopaedic character, which had become a
tradition in American lexicography.
Soon after N. Webster's death two publishers and booksellers of Massachusetts,
George and Charles Merriam, acquired the rights of his dictionary from his family
and started the publication of revised single volume editions under the name
Merriam-Webster (1864, 1890, 1909, 1934, 1961). The staff working for the modern
editions is a big institution numbering hundreds of specialists in different branches of
human activity.
The other great American dictionaries are the Century Dictionary first
completed in 1891; Funk and Wagnalls New Standard Dictionary first completed in
1895, the Random House Dictionary of the English Language, completed in 1967;
The Heritage Illustrated Dictionary of the English Language first published in 1969,
and C.L. Barnhart's The World Book Dictionary presenting a synchronic review of
the language in the 20th century.
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