Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition

Reviewed by Barry D. Gilfry © 2003

Wild Child Publishing.com © 2003

From the first entry "a" to the last word "zymosan", this is one book that will hold your attention like no other. And like no other, you will keep coming back to this book again and again.

Containing 1622 pages (plus 40 introductory pages), this is no overnight read. Here is a book that will hold your attention for years to come. Hot off the presses July 2003, the definitive authority on words at your fingertips has arrived: Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition.

Here is an introductory note from the front inside sleeve:

"America's Best College-Level Desk Dictionary has just gotten better. The new Eleventh Edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary introduces a revolutionary combination of high-quality reference and state-of-the-art technology."

This "revolutionary combination" consists of the print dictionary, a CD-ROM, and a free one-year subscription to the new Collegiate Web site. Okay, maybe it is not revolutionary, but it is handy.

I purchased my copy just this afternoon at the three-story Barnes and Noble Bookseller in the Westside Pavilion, West Los Angeles. I still have not been able to install the CD-ROM after three attempts, obtaining only an error message stating that the security level of my macro settings in Word will not allow the final phase of the installation. This is more likely to be because of a condition in my hybrid computer rather than a fault with the CD-ROM.

On-line registration was relatively simple, however, and I have already enjoyed the simplicity of looking up words via that part of the "combination". The instructions in your dictionary will provide a code for accessing your "retail-value of $14.95" online subscription.

This writer's reference source since 1979 has been Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eighth Edition. However, my personal version is fat with custom notes which I have inserted over the years containing pet reference materials, and the inside pages bear the graffiti of personal thoughts, comments, observations, and a section I consider to be the "family bible", my record of the dates of weddings, birthdays, divorces and deaths.

These personal pages aside, a quick comparison of my timeworn Eighth Edition to the sparkling new Eleventh Edition deserves a few comments. First, the pages of my trusty old friend have yellowed somewhat with age and have become respectably worn at the edges, but otherwise the volume measures up well against its younger counterpart. My older version is nearly one-hundred pages shorter, since the Eleventh Edition contains about 10,000 more words and definitions, while the font in both editions appears similar to my eyes, highly readable in both cases. Both editions are laid out in a similar fashion, in that they both begin with a history of English, contain a table of pronunciation, followed by the bulk of the text which contains words and their definitions, and end with biographical and geographical names, a section on style and an index. The Editor in Chief of the new edition refers to these sections as "the front matter" and "the back matter".

It is what lies between the front matter and the back matter that is somewhat different in the two tomes. For instance, in 1979 the word "bioterrorism" did not exist, the closest entry to it being "biotechnology". [The first thought that came to my mind was, "Wasn't it biotechnology that lead to bioterrorism?"] However, the final entry in the new edition is "zymosan", while my beloved Eighth Edition ends further down the alphabetical line with "zymurgy". The editors abandoned some words to make room for others.

No one claims, however, that a desk-reference dictionary is a definitive or all-inclusive source. The preface of the Eleventh Edition states that "the information given is based on the collection of 15,700,000 citations", over 1,200,000 more than were available for the Tenth Edition. There are 165,000 entries in the newest edition.

I am now convinced that the new dictionary is superior to the old one, so my old friend will retire to an honored place on a bookshelf across the room next to my Spanish/English Dictionary, while the Eleventh Edition will grace the nook next to my computer's monitor. However, I won't forget where to go if I need to look up the word "zymurgy".

If you decide to purchase the Eleventh Edition, let me draw your attention to one further comparison.

I purchased my volume, as I said, at Barnes and Noble Booksellers. The price printed on the outside back cover of the dictionary is $25.95 US, and that is the price for which B&N sells it. In Los Angeles, California, sales tax adds an additional $2.14, for a total of $28.09. Obviously, I needed my copy right away for this book review, so I went ahead and bought it.

You, however, can buy your copy by merely pushing this button, and have your volume shipped to your door in three days for only $22.16, including tax and shipping, from Amazon.com.

Either way, your life will be richer for the purchase. No serious writer can be without a quick-reference guide, and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition, is the best one available under one-hundred dollars.