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Words Matter

Webster's Dictionary of 1864

The landmark edition that transformed the way dictionaries are made.

The landmark edition that transformed the way dictionaries are made.

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play video websters video of 1864
Webster's Dictionary of 1864

 

The landmark edition that transformed the way dictionaries are made.

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How Do You Pronounce 'Groceries'?

 

Is there one standard way?

play video drive safe ly
Drive Safe: In Praise of Flat Adverbs

 

You don't have to end all your adverbs in -ly to talk right.

play video soup vs soop
An Abbreviated History of American English Spelling

 

Soop, wimmen, and headake did not make the cut

play video how a word gets into the dicionary
How a Word Gets into the Dictionary

 

What our editors are looking for when they enter words in Merriam-Webster.

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How Do You Pronounce 'Vase'?

 

And is one way more correct than the others?

play fun funner funnest
Fun, Funner, Funnest

 

Why does it sound strange to say 'funner' or 'funnest?'

Games & Quizzes

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Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
burrowing owl athene cunicularia tilts its head outside its burrow on marco island florida
Guess the Curious Origins of These Everyday Words Oh, that’s where that comes from…
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