Editing Webster's New World Dictionary

{{Short description|American dictionary}}
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{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}} {{Use American English|date=January 2024}}
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| italic title      =Webster's New World Dictionary
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| image             = WebstersNewWorldDictionary.jpg
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| publisher         = [[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]]
| publisher2        = [[HarperCollins]]
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| published         = 1951
| media_type        = Dictionary
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'''''Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language''''' is an American [[dictionary]] published first in 1951. As of 2022, the work is owned by [[HarperCollins]] Publishers.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://harpercollins.com/blogs/authors/editors-of-websters-new-world-college-dictionaries-74661 |title=Editors of Webster's New World College Dictionaries |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |date= |access-date=2022-06-10 |archive-date=2022-06-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220609095430/https://www.harpercollins.com/blogs/authors/editors-of-websters-new-world-college-dictionaries-74661 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Overview<!--'Webster's New World College Dictionary' redirects here-->==
The first edition was published by the [[World Publishing Company]] of [[Cleveland, Ohio]], in two volumes or one large volume, including a large encyclopedic section. In 1953, World published a one-volume college edition ('''''Webster's New World College Dictionary'''''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA-->), without the encyclopedic material. It was edited by Joseph H. Friend and David B. Guralnik<ref>{{cite web |url=http://clevelandartsprize.org/awardees/david_guralnik.html |title=David B. Guralnik, Lexicographer, 1921–2000 |last=Gottlieb |first=Mark |publisher=Cleveland Arts Prize |access-date=December 2, 2018 |archive-date=November 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191114193017/http://clevelandartsprize.org/awardees/david_guralnik.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/22/us/david-guralnik-lexicographer-dies-at-79.html |title=David Guralnik, Lexicographer, Dies at 79 |last=Cushman |first=John H. Jr. |work=The New York Times |access-date=December 2, 2018 |archive-date=December 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181203153848/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/22/us/david-guralnik-lexicographer-dies-at-79.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Guralnik |first=David B. |date=1953 |title=The making of a new dictionary : a paper read before the Rowfant Club, November 30, 1951 |location=Cleveland and New York |publisher=The World Publishing Company |page=11 |lccn=53005527 }}</ref> and contained 142,000 entries, said to be the largest American desk dictionary available at the time.

The second college edition, edited by Guralnik, was published in 1970. World Publishing was acquired by [[Simon & Schuster]] in 1980 and they continued the work with a third edition in 1989 edited by Victoria Neufeldt. A fourth edition was edited by Michael Agnes and published by [[John Wiley & Sons]] in 1999, containing 160,000 entries; a fifth, edited by Andrew N. Sparks et al. and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2014, contains around 165,000 and 1703 pages.<ref>{{cite news |first=Michael K. |last=McIntyre |title=With publication of Webster's 'College 5' dictionary, the book that defined Cleveland editors' work is closed |url=http://www.cleveland.com/tipoff/index.ssf/2014/10/with_publication_websters_coll.html |work=[[The Plain Dealer]] |date=2014-10-17 |access-date=2014-10-19 |archive-date=2014-10-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021203846/http://www.cleveland.com/tipoff/index.ssf/2014/10/with_publication_websters_coll.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The latest publication of the Fifth Edition is 2020, published by [[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company]]. The newest edition contains 1728 pages.<ref>https://isbnsearch.org/isbn/9780358126614</ref> 

One of the salient features of ''Webster's New World'' dictionaries has been its unusually full etymology, that is, the origin and development of words and the relationship of words to other Indo-European languages. The work also labels words which have a distinctly American origin.

The college edition is the official desk dictionary of ''[[The New York Times]]'',<ref>{{cite book|last1=Siegal|first1=Allan M.|last2=Connolly|first2=William|title=The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage|date=2015|publisher=The New York Times Company|edition=5th|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o2E5BgAAQBAJ&pg=PT456|chapter=spelling|isbn=9781101903223|access-date=2016-11-26|archive-date=2023-03-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230305220115/https://books.google.com/books?id=o2E5BgAAQBAJ&pg=PT456|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'',<ref>{{cite book|last1=Martin|first1=Paul|title=The Wall Street Journal Guide to Business Style and Usage|date=2002|publisher=Simon & Schuster|page=68|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3mjxg9iNAQUC&pg=PA68|chapter=dictionary|isbn=9781439122693|access-date=2016-11-26|archive-date=2023-03-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230305220115/https://books.google.com/books?id=3mjxg9iNAQUC&pg=PA68|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[The Washington Post]]'',<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lippman|first1=Thomas W.|title=The Washington Post Deskbook on Style|date=1989|publisher=McGraw-Hill|pages=219–220|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_yTuAAAAMAAJ&q=Webster%27s|isbn=9780070684140|access-date=2021-05-13|archive-date=2021-08-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816084217/https://books.google.com/books?id=_yTuAAAAMAAJ&q=Webster%27s|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[United Press International]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Martin|first1=Harold|last2=Cook|first2=Bruce|title=UPI Style Book & Guide to Newswriting|date=2004|publisher=United Press International|page=xvii|edition=4th|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VKnFXo6tH7cC&pg=PR17|isbn=9781931868587|access-date=2016-11-26|archive-date=2023-03-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230305220115/https://books.google.com/books?id=VKnFXo6tH7cC&pg=PR17|url-status=live}}</ref> It was the primary dictionary of the ''[[AP Stylebook]]'' from 1977<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Angione|editor1-first=Howard|title=The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual|date=1977|location=New York|publisher=Associated Press|page=68|edition=1st|chapter=dictionaries|isbn=9780917360015|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=94IqAQAAIAAJ&q=Webster%27s|access-date=2021-05-13|archive-date=2021-08-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816060949/https://books.google.com/books?id=94IqAQAAIAAJ&q=Webster%27s|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Associated Press Stylebook|date=2016|location=New York|publisher=Associated Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EKrKDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA5|isbn=9780465093380|access-date=2016-11-26|archive-date=2023-03-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230305220140/https://books.google.com/books?id=EKrKDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA5|url-status=live}}</ref> until 2024, when it reverted to [[Merriam-Webster]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://blog.ap.org/a-new-primary-dictionary-for-the-ap-stylebook |title=A new primary dictionary for the AP Stylebook |first=Nicole |last=Meir |date=5 April 2024 |publisher=Associated Press }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Winkler |editor1-first=G. P. |title=The Associated Press Stylebook |date=1970 |location=New York |publisher=Associated Press|page=20|edition=Revised |chapter=Spelling 6.1 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/ap-stylebooks/1970_Stylebook/page/20/mode/1up}}</ref>

== Publisher ==

Although the title refers to [[Noah Webster]], the work is unrelated to the series of [[Webster's Dictionary|Webster's]] dictionaries published by the [[Merriam-Webster]] Company, which indeed are descended directly from Noah Webster's original publications. By contrast, ''Webster's New World Dictionary'' merely cites Webster as a generic name for any American English dictionary, as does [[Random House]]'s line of [[Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary|''Webster's Unabridged'']] and derived dictionaries.

''Webster's New World'' student and children's editions were produced for younger readers but were discontinued since 1996. Dictionaries for foreign languages, American English, Large Print, and English writing style guides have also been produced. 

As of 2024, its current publisher offers only the following works: ''Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition'' (2020 hardcover), ''Webster’s New World Dictionary, Fifth Edition'' (2016 mass market paperback), ''Webster's New World Pocket Dictionary, Fourth Edition'' (2016 Trade Paperback), ''Webster's New Roget's Pocket Thesaurus'' (2008 Trade paperback), and ''Webster’s New World® Crossword Puzzle Dictionary, 2nd Ed.'' (2017 Trade paperback.)<ref>Editors of Webster's New World College Dictionaries | URL: https://www.harpercollins.com/blogs/authors/editors-of-websters-new-world-college-dictionaries-74661 | HarperCollins Publishers (accessed 30 September 2024)</ref>

==See also==
*''[[Webster's Dictionary]]'' (dealing primarily with the line now published by Merriam-Webster)

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language. College Edition (1st edition 1953), here reprint (1966): https://archive.org/details/webstersnewworld00clev/page/n5/mode/2up
*Webster's New World Dictionary of the American language. Second College Edition (1970): https://archive.org/details/webstersnewworld00gura_1
*Webster's New World Dictionary. Third College Edition (1988): https://archive.org/details/webstersnewworld3rd00neuf/mode/2up
*Webster's New World College Dictionary. Fourth Edition (1999): https://archive.org/details/webstersnewworld00agne_0/mode/2up
*Webster's New World College Dictionary. Fifth Edition (2014): https://archive.org/details/webstersnewworld0000unse_k1f4/page/n5/mode/2up

==External links==
*[https://www.harpercollins.com/search?q=Webster%27s+New+World+ Official website]
{{Dictionaries of English}}
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[[Category:1951 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:English dictionaries]]
[[Category:Houghton Mifflin books]]