When was Merriam-Webster founded and by whom?
George Merriam and Charles Merriam founded the company in 1831 as G & C Merriam Co. in Springfield, Massachusetts. It adopted its current name, Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, in 1982.
Questions about Merriam-Webster
Short answers, pulled from the story.
How did Merriam-Webster get the rights to Noah Webster's dictionary?
After Noah Webster died in 1843, George Merriam and Charles Merriam purchased the publishing and revision rights to Webster's 1840 dictionary from his estate. Every Merriam-Webster dictionary since traces its lineage to that acquisition.
How many words were in Noah Webster's original An American Dictionary of the English Language?
The dictionary, completed in 1825 and published in 1828, featured 70,000 words. Approximately 12,000 of those had never before appeared in any dictionary.
Why did Webster's Third New International Dictionary cause controversy in 1961?
The 1961 edition, edited by Philip B. Gove, shifted away from prescriptivism toward describing American English as it was actually used, which critics felt abandoned the dictionary's role as an authority on correct usage. Many changes also affected formatting and punctuation conventions.
What is Merriam-Webster's citation file and how large is it?
The citation file is a database of documented word usages collected by editors from books, newspapers, advertisements, and other print sources. It contains more than 16 million entries; millions of older citations survive on physical 3-by-5 cards, with all new entries recorded electronically since 2009.
What style guide recommends Merriam-Webster as its preferred spelling source?
The Chicago Manual of Style designates Merriam-Webster as its preferred source for general matters of spelling and states that it normally opts for the first spelling Merriam-Webster lists.