"my old Webster's 2nd Unabridged"

Posted by Peter on July 26, 2003

In Reply to: The problem is at the 'Meanings/origins' page posted by Peter on July 26, 2003

Sorry I wasn't clear about the dictionary I was using; "Webster's" has become a generic American name for any dictionary that wants to use it, from Noah Webster's first American word list. The specific dictionary I used is the enormous 1934 Merriam-Webster "New International Dictionary of the English Language, Second Edition Unabridged", now long out of print. This, in its final 1954 incarnation, was the last of Merriam's "prescriptive" dictionaries, indicating preferred usages, spellings, and pronunciations; it was replaced by the 3rd Unabridged, which, to users' widespread dismay, makes no attempt to indicate preferences.