THE NEW INTERNATIONAL WEBSTER'S COMPREHENSIVE DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

ENCYCLOPEDIC EDITION

Introduction

The Webster Comprehensive Dictionary: International Edition is the latest in a long and distinguished series. It is backed by three quarters of a century of experience in dictionary-making and, like its predecessors, is designed to serve the practical and professional needs of all who speak or use the English language. No resource of lexicographical skill has been spared to fulfill this purpose.

Throughout their work, the editors, with the valued cooperation of many of the nation's eminent leaders in education, industry, the arts, sciences, and professions, have been guided by the following objectives:

To PRESENT the fundamental facts and characteristics of the language accurately, fully, and interestingly. The definitions, and the wealth of additional material here presented, are the result of years of scholarly research into the many facets of word-meaning and usage, combined with an editorial awareness of the wide-ranging developments of our expanding world. Details of syllabication, spelling, pronunciation, morphological forms, and grammatical usage have been included without stint. Etymologies, or short word-histories, are provided for the interesting insight they give into the richness and versatility of the English vocabulary. Particular attention is given to the word builders — the indispensable prefixes, suffixes, and combining forms in which English is so rich and which are constantly at work supplying new words to the language. An innovation in dictionary practice — the inclusion of hundreds of homophones and collateral adjectives under their appropriate entries — has been effected to highlight two of the more interesting and valuable, but seldom considered, features of the language.

To PRESENT adequately the significant contributions to English made in the United States, with requisite definitions, usage notes, and discriminative comment. Similar treatment is accorded to such areas of speech as slang, dialects, colloquialisms, and various forms of English as modified or influenced by Scottish, Irish, Canadian, Australian, and other sources — all of these being properly labeled for ready identification.

To SECURE the widest possible coverage of both the established word stock of English and of the rapidly expanding vocabularies of the arts, sciences, trades, and professions. In the first group, selection has depended upon the overriding factors of usage, word-frequency counts, and sound historical judgment, reinforced by the consensus of the many authorities consulted in the course of preparation. In the second, choice of entries has been determined by a conscientious and extensive review of the appropriate sources in every technical field.

Abbreviations
Business Law
Gazetteer
Glossary of Biological Terms
Glossary of Physics Terms
Grammar and Usage Handbook
Greek and Latin Elements in English
The Library Research Paper
Members of the United Nations
Metric System and Equivalent Units
Perpetual Calendar
Quotations
Statistics of the United States
Tables of Weights and Measures
The Constitution of the United States
The Declaration of Independence
Vocabulary and Spelling Improvement
Wills and Estate Planning