Merriam-Webster
Nearly 80 million desks and bookshelves worldwide boast a member of the distinguished family of Webster's New World dictionaries. From The New York Times to the Los Angeles Times, most major newspapers have adopted the College Edition as their standard first-reference resource. So have the Associated Press and United Press International. The professionals know that when you need to get the words right the first time, every time, you need Webster's New World Dictionary. But this is much more than the most useful, readable, and accurate desk dictionary you can find. Ever since the first edition was published thirty-five years ago, the Webster's New World permanent staff has been dedicated to presenting the English language not merely as it is, but also as it has evolved. In these pages you will find more up-to-date, in-depth etymologies than in any other American dictionary, tracing our current vocabulary back to its rich and varied resources. Definitions are presented in modified historical order, illuminating the semantic development by which the language grows and changes. Americanisms, more than 11,000 of them, are clearly marked, illustrating the astonishing inventiveness of our diverse culture. Every entry offers new and fascinating perspectives on the language that we share - formal, technical, colloquial, idiomatic, even outright slang - because Webster's New World Dictionary has always sought to record the English language, not restrict it. Make no mistake however; Webster's New World Dictionary is a precise reference tool carefully crafted to meet the needs of the most demanding user. It is the only dictionary to offer accurate and consistent Pinyin Chinese transliterations, a very useful feature in the "global village" of today. Commonly used foreign expressions that should be italicized are clearly identified; and a new and innovative feature presents a syllabification system that distinguishes between preferred word breaks for line-end hyphenation an
Reference
Webster's New World Dictionary, Indexed