merriam-webster
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'Quordle' has a fitting new owner as Merriam-Webster buys the 'Wordle' clone
Quordle, a Wordle-style word game, has a fitting new owner in the shape of Merriam-Webster. The game's URL now redirects to a page on the company's website.
Merriam-Webster just yeeted a bunch of internet slang into the dictionary
Apparently metaverse, sus and meatspace are real words now, too.
CRISPR, 'binge-watch' and 'botnet' are now in the dictionary
The vocabulary experts who decide which terms get added to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary are at it again. Today, over 1,000 new words made the cut from fields like science, tech, medicine pop culture, sports and more. Among the new additions are CRISPR, botnet and binge-watch alongside microbiome, truther, SCOTUS and FLOTUS. Other notable new entries include Seussian -- of, relating to, or suggestive of the works of Dr. Seuss -- and the technical term for the inability to recognize faces: prosopagnosia. Merriam-Webster doesn't publish the full list of new additions, but you can take a brief survey via the source link below.
The words hashtag, steampunk and selfie are now tired enough to go in the dictionary
There's something in the water over on lexicography boulevard. Just a day after Collins asked Twitter users to vote on a new word, Merriam-Webster has revealed which internet-born terms it now considers official. The 150 strong list includes crowdfunding, selfie and hashtag, all the way through to more cultural ones like catfish, tweep and steampunk. Just think, you can use all six of those words in a term paper and your teacher can't be mad at you, because, duh, they're all in the dictionary.
Merriam-Webster announces Dictionary API for developers, coming to a word game near you
Merriam-Webster just announced its new Dictionary API, which gives developers access to the full dictionary and thesaurus, along with more specialized content like medical, Spanish, ESL and student-targeted vocabulary lists. The API will let app makers integrate word definitions, etymologies, audio pronunciations and more. While this content will no doubt make it into a slew of educational apps, Merriam-Webster says it will also enhance word games, so maybe Scramble and Words with Friends will finally start accepting those obscure three-letter words you have up your sleeve.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary now available on iPad for free
You could argue that there's not much need for a separate dictionary app any more. With dictionary services built into nearly every interface and Google and Wikipedia searches just a tap away, it's not hard to find out what a word means or how it's spelled any more. But sometimes you may just want to browse around or look a word up for yourself, and for those times, there's the Merriam-Webster Dictionary app, which is now available on the iPad for free. It's certainly not the only dictionary app available, and the renowned Oxford English Dictionary has its own edition available for the iPad already. But that one costs US$54.99, and the ad-supported Webster dictionary benefits not only from a lack of initial cost, but features like voice search, audio pronunciations, a search history and a browse mode that lets you search and learn new words as you like. It's a solid dictionary app from an old name in the word-indexing game, and even if you only use it occasionally, it's probably worth having around on your iPad.
Kobo unbuttons for $129 eReader Touch Edition, we go hands-on (video)
Kobo today kicked off Book Expo America with the launch of a new six-inch, one-button touchscreen e-reader -- named, appropriately enough, the Kobo eReader Touch Edition. Priced at $130 -- $10 cheaper than Amazon's Kindle -- the pocket-sized device strives for a reading experience more akin to that of old timey paper books, courtesy of a Zeforce infrared touchscreen, new Pearl eInk technology, and a freescale i.MX507 processor for faster page turning. Click on through for more details and our impressions of this little reader.
'Fanboy' gains respect, enters Merriam-Webster dictionary
The word defining folks over at Merriam-Webster Inc. have added "Fanboy," along with 100 other words, to the newest edition of its Collegiate Dictionary*. Fanboy is actually one of the "oldest" of the "new" words, with its origins dating back to 1919. The wordsmiths define fanboy as a "boy who is an enthusiastic devotee, such as of comics or movies." Fanboys should feel free to write with self-righteous fury to MW and let them know it can also apply to video games ... tell them you'll never read their dictionary again if they don't correct this grievous oversight (also make an online petition).This isn't the first time in recent memory some bit of gaming culture seeped its way into the good word book at Merriam-Webster; "w00t" became the company's word of the year in 2007. So, w00t to all the fanboys out there, the dictionary acknowledges your existence.*OSX users will find the Dictionary widget, which uses The Oxford American Dictionary, already defines "fanboy." Merriam-Webster is a different company.
'w00t' is Merriam-Webster's word of the year
Merriam-Webster (you know, that dictionary company) announced its word of the year is "w00t." And that sound you now hear is millions of English teachers screaming out in terror. The leading US dictionary stated that the word is like saying "yay" and was selected after Merriam-Webster website users were invited to vote on 20 words frequently looked-up or submitted by readers. The runner-up word was "facebook" as a verb, which means to add or search for a person on a social networking site.The etymology of "w00t" is still a little messy. Some say it's a combination of wow and loot, others say it comes from hoot, but the zero replacing the letter o definitely comes from l33t speak. English sticklers can rest easy for now, but the day will come when companies pwn each other in the Wall Street Journal and someone makes a newb of themselves on the front page of the New York Times. w00t!
"DVR" added to Merriam-Webster dictionary
We've toiled and we've troubled, and finally our hard work has paid off: the term "DVR" has been accepted by Merriam-Webster in its Eleventh Edition Collegiate Dictionary. Strangely, DVR joins the dictionary at the same time as RPG (or rocket propelled grenade): we're guessing the staff at Merriam-Webster switched over from their TiVo for a bit of Gears action, reminding them that RPG needed to be in there too.
Merriam Webster USB Dictionary and Thesaurus
Remember the good 'ol days when that hundred-pound slab of text was the only way to beef up your vocabulary? Merriam Webster, a well-defined name in the business, has stuffed over 300,000 definitions and 500,000 synonyms onto a 256MB USB drive (with a couple hundred megs to spare, we understand). Aside from having the entire dictionary and thesaurus at your disposal, it comes with a few other tools to help proof your masterpiece: phonetic spell correction, a grammar guide, confusable function alerts -- a feature that alerts the user if there's a potential mix-up in similar sounding words -- and even a crossword puzzle solver to show that newspaper who's boss. All things we could probably use around here at Engadget HQ, we know, we know. So if your word processor's checking functions have failed you once too many, or you simply find comfort in always having the right words to say, the $49 drive could prove quite meaningful. [Via Popgadget]
New Verizon services give you a babelphone
¿Puede traducirme esto, por favor? Verizon is looking to facilitate awkward, painfully slow conversations between you and the Spanish speaker of your choosing, launching a handful of language tools through its Get It Now service. First up is the Merriam-Webster Spanish-English Dictionary, offering over 100,000 translations for $3.49 per month. Next is AppAbove's Spanish Anywhere, a phrase translator with over 1,200 phrases and 5,500 words for $2.99 per month. Other languages are getting love, too -- VOCEL's Living Language learning program lets users practice and hear 600-odd words and phrases in over 20 languages for $3.99 per month. According to Verizon, "If you spot someone on the street speaking Japanese, German or one of 20 different foreign languages found on select Get It Now-enabled Verizon Wireless phones, don't interrupt their class – they're being tutored by VOCEL's Living Language program." Thanks for the heads-up, guys -- we typically stop folks speaking foreign languages on the phone in their tracks and sternly ask them to stop.[Via textually.org]
A dictionary on your iPod
Many people have been lamenting the fact that there is no full fledged dictionary available for their iPods, but now they can rejoice. Merriam Webster, working with iPREPpress, has just released an iPod ready version of their dictionary. It'll set you back $9.95 (which is a special introductory price) and it only works with 3rd generation iPods or later.Thanks, Dhiram Shah.
