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Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
 
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Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary [Hardcover]

Merriam-Webster (Editor)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (71 customer reviews)

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Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition 4.5 out of 5 stars (28)
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The 1998 10th edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary marks the 100th anniversary of this distinguished and popular reference standard, and this is more than just an interesting statistic--it means that Merriam-Webster brings years of experience and reams of citation files to the creation of this latest edition. Improving on their last dictionary, they've added more than 100 pictorial illustrations and supplemented the synonym paragraphs with examples. Along with the English dictionary, which forms the heart of the reference, the editors at Merriam-Webster have included a brief introduction to the English language and a history of the English dictionary, a guide to pronunciation, and a series of appendices that include chemical element abbreviations and symbols, foreign words and phrases, extensive sections with biographical and geographical names, signs and symbols, and a handbook of style.

But getting back to the book itself--it's impressively comprehensive for a collegiate dictionary, with more than 215,000 definitions. Each item includes a pithy wealth of information, with first usage date, etymology, and pronunciation, and clear, precise definitions. In addition, there are often usage notes, synonym cross-references, illustrative quotations, variant spellings and pronunciations, regional labels, and information on capitalization, function, and inflections. Then there are the extra touches. Under bible, for example, there's a chart detailing books of the Old Testament, Jewish Scripture, Protestant apocrypha, and books of the New Testament. Under months is a table listing the months of the principal calendars--Gregorian, Jewish, and Islamic. And wonderful line drawings illustrate terms such as mackerel, lyrebird, hedgehog, and the ancient Celtic stringed instrument known as a crowd. All this makes it a valuable reference--detailed enough for editors and writers, accessible enough for students and casual definition seekers, updated with the new vocabulary of technology, and rigorous enough for the linguistic perfectionists. --Stephanie Gold

From Library Journal

Despite a change in title, this volume supersedes Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (1983) as the latest in a nearly 100-year-old line of college desk diction aries from Merriam-Webster. New editions in this series have appeared about every ten years since 1898. The tenth edition documents the changes in the language of the past decade with an additional 10,000 new meanings and words. It continues and expands the feature of "usage paragraphs" introduced in the ninth edition. These short essays explain how problem words are used in the language; thorny words and phrases such as irregardless , forte (one syllable or two?), hone in on , alright vs. all right , and hundreds more are given special attention. There is no retreat here from the descriptive philosophy that made Webster's Third New International Dictionary so controversial. This edition describes and illuminates use without labeling right and wrong. The comprehensive vocabulary presents a thoughtful mix of the new and the old. As in the previous edition, there are separate appendixes of abbreviations, foreign words and phrases, biographical names, geographical names, signs and symbols, and a handbook of style. To make room for new words, the appendix list of colleges and universities present in the ninth edition has been deleted. The inclusion of a first date of use for almost every entry is another welcome innovation. The dictionary is printed on good, heavy paper; the type is sharp although the pages are tightly packed to the point of being cramped. The binding of the deluxe edition is durable and sturdy. This is one of the (if not the ) best among the college dictionaries; recommended for all libraries large and small. Other good choices are Random House Webster's College Dictionary (1991) and Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language (1988). For those wanting a more prescriptive college dictionary, a new arrival, the American Heritage College Dictionary Third Edition (1993), derived from the unabridged dictionary of the same name, is the right choice.
- Paul D'Alessandro, Portland P. L. , Me.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Customer Reviews

71 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (71 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best and Most Exhaustive Dictionaries Available, Oct 29 2000
By 
This review is from: Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (Hardcover)
I have used Webster's New World Dictionary, The Merriam Webster compact dictionary and now Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary(MWCD). I must say that the MWCD is by the far the best of the three. When I am reading texts that deal with the philosophy of science or the philosophy of language I always have this dictionary with me to refer to. I have yet to find a term or a word that was not listed in MWCD. Also, in the back of the tenth edition of MWCD is a listing and description of biographical names, geographical names, abbreviations, signs and symbols for mathematics, medicine, physics, reference marks, etc., and a small "handbook of style" which explains punctuation Capitalization, Italicization, etc. Finally, this dictionary also contains a section on MLA documentation, Forms of Addresses, and an Index. Thus, not only can you find all the various usages for the words listed in the dictionary (with the etymological info, and definition), but you also get all the extra tools that I mentioned above. What more could you ask for from a dictionary? If you are a student (at any level), a writer, researcher, or just one who likes to read and have need of a dictionary from time to time, then this is the best available dictionary (in my estimation) available.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Very good for everyday use, April 29 2004
By 
sadhana444 "sadhana444" (Anchorage, AK United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (Hardcover)
An important issue with choosing a dictionary is finding a balance that meets your needs.

My first choice of dictionaries is the 20 volume OED for depth and breadth of coverage. Some disadvantages of the OED are the price and the size. My second choice of dictionaries is the Shorter OED, which is smaller (2 volumes) and cheaper, but has about 1/3 of the entries (roughly 500,000).

My third choice of dictionaries is the "New Oxford American Dictionary," which is easy to carry and use - it has roughly 250,000 words. The NOAD is handy because it has definitions arranged in order of most common usage - "core meanings" followed by related senses. It does not have the extensive literary citations that the OED and shorter OED have.

My fourth choice of dictionaries is probably the Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged, which has about 450,000 words. The disadvantages of this dictionary are that the main text has not been updated since 1961 (although an 89 page addenda is added at the beginning), the layout is hard to follow, and it's a bit unwieldy.

Which brings me to my fifth choice of dictionaries, which is the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate dictionary. This dictionary has roughly 200,000 words, so it loses some breadth and depth of coverage. However, it's very useful for everyday use, and a nice balance between portability and breadth and depth of coverage.

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5.0 out of 5 stars does this really need a review?, Sep 3 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (Hardcover)
somethings are just great and need no reviews. This is one of them. If you read, you need this.
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