National Dictionary Day
Learn a new word or two on #NationalDictionaryDay
16 October is National Dictionary Day, and you are encouraged to celebrate this day by learning a little more about the history of Noah Webster’s dictionary.
Webster, an American citizen, published his first dictionary – A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language – in 1806. A year later – 1807 – he began compiling an expanded and fully comprehensive dictionary entitled An American Dictionary of the English Language. This dictionary took 27 years to complete.
Webster learned 26 languages – including Old English (Anglo-Saxon), German, Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, French, Hebrew, Arabic and Sanskrit – to evaluate the etymology of words.
Webster’s dictionary was completed at the University of Cambridge. The book contained 70 000 words, 12 000 of them never having been published previously. Webster was a spelling reformer and believed the English spelling rules were unnecessarily complex, leading him to introduce American English spellings in his dictionary. He replaced colour with color, substituted wagon with waggon and printed center instead of centre; he also added American words such as ‘skunk’ and ‘squash’ that did not appear in British dictionaries.
Webster’s dictionary was published in 1828 – when he was 70 years old – and 2 500 copies were sold. A second edition, in two volumes, was published in 1840.
National Dictionary Day was created in honour of Noah Webster’s birthday – 16 October 1758 – and the day was set aside to emphasise the importance of learning and using dictionary skills to increase vocabulary. Webster is considered as the Father of the Dictionary.
To celebrate today, learn a new word or two, or three! You can also play some dictionary-based games like Balderdash or Scrabble with family and friends.
You can post your new word (with it’s meaning) on social media using #NationalDictionaryDay.
Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at roodepoortrecord@caxton.co.za (remember to include your contact details) or phone us on 011 955 1130.
For free daily local news on the West Rand, also visit our sister newspaper websites
Remember to visit our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages to let your voice be heard!
