Merriam-Webster

Merriam-Webster, Incorporated
Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Publishing
Predecessor	G & C Merriam Co.
Founded	1831 in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States
Founder	George Merriam, Charles Merriam
Fate	Acquired by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. in 1964; renamed in 1982
Headquarters	Springfield, United States
Area served	United States
Products	Dictionaries, reference books, language resources
Owner	Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Parent	Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Website	www.merriam-webster.com

Adapted from the English Wikipedia article Merriam-Webster, available under CC BY-SA 4.0Updated 27 November 2025

Merriam-Webster, Incorporated is a U.S.-based firm recognized for its publication of reference materials, with a primary focus on dictionaries. It holds the distinction of being the longest-standing dictionary publisher in America.

Established in 1831 by brothers George and Charles Merriam under the name G & C Merriam Co. in Springfield, Massachusetts, the company obtained the rights to Noah Webster's An American Dictionary of the English Language in 1843 following Webster's passing. Every Merriam-Webster dictionary derives its lineage from this foundational work.

In 1964, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. acquired Merriam-Webster as one of its subsidiaries. The business adopted its present name in 1982.

19th century

Noah Webster initially released A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language in 1806, followed by his more extensive An American Dictionary of the English Language in 1828. This landmark dictionary featured 70,000 entries—approximately 12,000 new additions to dictionary records—and introduced Americanized spellings such as color and center, alongside uniquely American vocabulary like skunk and squash. Despite these innovations, the first edition sold only 2,500 copies and left Webster financially strained; however, a second edition published in 1840 found greater commercial acceptance.

After Webster’s death, George and Charles Merriam acquired the rights to publish and revise his dictionary in 1843. They issued updated editions over the following decades: a revised version in 1847 featuring new sections, an illustrated update in 1859, and a substantially expanded edition in 1864 that extensively revised much of Webster’s original text while preserving many definitions and retaining the title An American Dictionary. By 1884, their edition included 118,000 words—3,000 more than any other English dictionary available at that time.

The company released Webster's International in 1890, further broadening its vocabulary scope. Subsequent editions titled Webster's New International appeared in 1909 and 1934, each containing over half a million entries. The 1934 version became known as Webster's Second International or simply "The Second Edition" of the New International.

The Collegiate Dictionary, introduced in 1898 and now published through its eleventh edition, followed these developments. After the initial release of Webster's International in 1890, two Collegiate editions were produced as condensed versions of their unabridged originals.

20th century

From the 1940s onward, Merriam-Webster expanded its offerings to include specialized dictionaries and various language reference tools. In 1961, it published Webster's Third New International, overseen by editor Philip B. Gove. This edition prompted debate due to editorial changes such as updated formatting, elimination of superfluous punctuation, and a shift away from prescriptive linguistic rules toward describing actual contemporary American English usage.

In 1964, Merriam-Webster became a subsidiary under Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

The ninth edition of the Collegiate Dictionary, released in 1983 as Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (WNNCD), marked its transformation into an independent publication rather than merely an abridgment of the Third New International. This edition reintroduced some proper nouns and notably incorporated first known citation dates for words to track their historical entry into English.

Also during 1983, following the loss of exclusive rights to use the name Webster alone, the company rebranded itself as Merriam-Webster, Incorporated—a change first reflected with the publication of the Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary. Prior publications had used A Merriam-Webster Dictionary as a subtitle.

21st century

The 2003 release of the eleventh edition of Collegiate featured upwards of 225,000 definitions and exceeded 165,000 entries, occasionally accompanied by a CD-ROM. It serves as the authoritative spelling reference for The Chicago Manual of Style, which is extensively adopted by American publishers and periodicals.

The twelfth edition of the Collegiate was made available on November 18, 2025.

Merriam-Webster actively engages with audiences on social media platforms, regularly sharing content related to dictionary updates and political observations. Its Twitter profile notably employed lexicographical terminology to critique the Trump administration. In November 2021, the account went viral for a tweet that subtly implied Kyle Rittenhouse was feigning tears during his trial.

Services

Merriam-Webster introduced its inaugural website in 1996, providing complimentary online access to both a dictionary and a thesaurus. The company has produced specialized dictionaries addressing synonyms, English usage, geography (such as Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary), biography, proper names, medical terminology, sports vocabulary, slang, Spanish/English translations, among others. Beyond dictionaries, their catalog includes titles like the Collegiate Thesaurus, Secretarial Handbook, Manual for Writers and Editors, as well as encyclopedias focused on literature and global religions.

On February 16, 2007, Merriam-Webster launched a mobile service called Ask Me How, allowing users to obtain definitions, correct spellings, and synonyms via text messaging. Additional digital features include Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day and Open Dictionary—a collaborative wiki platform enabling subscribers to contribute new words and their meanings.

Pronunciation guides

Historically, Merriam-Webster employed proprietary phonetic symbols in its dictionaries to assist readers from various U.S. dialects in pronouncing words uniformly. Although Unicode incorporated IPA symbols starting with version 1.1 (1993), Merriam-Webster’s custom phonetic characters were not supported until Unicode 4.0 (2003). To provide online pronunciation guides without converting all entries into IPA format, Merriam-Webster utilizes a simplified ASCII-based phonetic system in its digital offerings.

Writing entries

The process of compiling dictionary entries at Merriam-Webster involves gathering word usage examples from printed materials into a citation database. Editors examine a wide range of sources daily—including books, newspapers, advertisements, and packaging—to track word usage for potential inclusion. This citation archive contains over 16 million records, many preserved on 3-by-5 index cards dating back to the late 1800s. Since 2009, new citations have been collected electronically.

External links

G. & C. Merriam Company Archives housed at Amherst College Archives & Special Collections