 How
does a word get into a
Merriam-Webster
dictionary?
This is one of the
questions Merriam-Webster
editors are most often
asked.
The answer is simple:
usage.
Tracking word usage
To decide which words
to include in the
dictionary and to
determine what they mean,
Merriam-Webster editors
study the language as
it's used. They carefully
monitor which words
people use most often and
how they use them.
Each day most
Merriam-Webster editors
devote an hour or two to
reading a cross section
of published material,
including books,
newspapers, magazines,
and electronic
publications; in our
office this activity is
called "reading and
marking.
" The editors scour
the texts in search of
new words, new usages of
existing words, variant
spellings, and inflected
forms—in short, anything
that might help in
deciding if a word
belongs in the
dictionary, understanding
what it means, and
determining typical
usage. Any word of
interest is marked, along
with surrounding context
that offers insight into
its form and use.
Citations
The marked passages
are then input into a
computer system and
stored both in
machine-readable form and
on 3" x 5" slips of paper
to create
citations.
Each citation has the
following elements:
- the word itself
- an example of
the word used in
context
- bibliographic
information about
the source from
which the word and
example were taken
Merriam-Webster's
citation files, which
were begun in the 1880s,
now contain 15.7 million
examples of words used in
context and cover all
aspects of the English
vocabulary. Citations are
also available to editors
in a searchable text
database (linguists call
it a corpus)
that includes more than
70 million words drawn
from a great variety of
sources.
From
citation to entry
How does a word make
the jump from the
citation file to the
dictionary?
The process begins
with dictionary editors
reviewing groups of
citations. Definers start
by looking at citations
covering a relatively
small segment of the
alphabet — for example
gri-
to gro-
— along with the entries
from the dictionary being
reedited that are
included within that
alphabetical section.
It is the definer's
job to determine which
existing entries can
remain essentially
unchanged, which entries
need to be revised, which
entries can be dropped,
and which new entries
should be added. In each
case, the definer decides
on the best course of
action by reading through
the citations and using
the evidence in them to
adjust entries or create
new ones.
Before a new word can
be added to the
dictionary, it must have
enough citations to show
that it is widely used.
But having a lot of
citations is not enough;
in fact, a large number
of citations might even
make a word more
difficult to define,
because many citations
show too little about the
meaning of a word to be
helpful.
A word may be rejected
for entry into a general
dictionary if all of its
citations come from a
single source or if they
are all from highly
specialized publications
that reflect the jargon
of experts within a
single field.
To be included in a
Merriam-Webster
dictionary, a word must
be used in a substantial
number of citations that
come from a wide range of
publications over a
considerable period of
time. Specifically, the
word must have enough
citations to allow
accurate judgments about
its establishment,
currency, and meaning.
The number and range
of citations needed to
add a word to the
dictionary varies. In
rare cases, a word jumps
onto the scene and is
both instantly prevalent
and likely to last, as
was the case in the 1980s
with AIDS.
In such a situation, the
editors determine that
the word has become
firmly established in a
relatively short time and
should be entered in the
dictionary, even though
its citations may not
span the wide range of
years exhibited by other
words.
 Size
does matter
The size and type of
dictionary also affects
how many citations a word
needs to gain admission.
Because an abridged
dictionary, such as
Merriam-Webster's
Collegiate® Dictionary,
has fairly limited space,
only the most commonly
used words can be
entered; to get into that
type of dictionary, a
word must be supported by
a significant number of
citations. But a large
unabridged dictionary,
such as
Webster's Third New
International Dictionary,
has room for many more
words, so terms with
fewer citations can still
be included.
Authority without
authoritarianism
Change and variation
are as natural in
language as they are in
other areas of human life
and Merriam-Webster
reference works must
reflect that fact. By
relying on citational
evidence, we hope to keep
our publications grounded
in the details of current
usage so they can calmly
and dispassionately offer
information about modern
English. That way, our
references can speak with
authority
without being
authoritarian.
Source:
Merriam-Webster
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