John Morse favors the word "convergence" these days. President and publisher of Merriam-Webster, he remarks that Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition, will supply a new definition for the noun: "the merging of distinct technologies, industries, or devices into a unified whole."
"When we began thinking about the 11th edition," Morse said, "we asked ourselves, what is the dictionary of the future?" The company's conclusion is embodied in the new publication, which consists of the print edition, a CD-ROM packaged inside the book and a free one-year subscription to a new Web site, Merriam-WebsterCollegiate.com. The site, which will launch shortly before the book's publication in July, will provide access to the Collegiate Thesaurus, Collegiate Encyclopedia and Merriam-Webster's Spanish-English Dictionary, in addition to the newly revised Collegiate Dictionary. The package is priced at $25.95, up $1 from the 10th edition
"I don't think people fall into a single category of using the book, a CD-ROM or the Web," noted Morse. "The person who uses the computer for reference during the day will use the print dictionary at home in the evening. People want to own and use the Collegiate database in any way they choose, and now they'll be able to buy that right off the bookstore shelf."
Although Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary is updated annually, this is the first fully revised edition in 10 years. With more than 165,000 entries and 225,000 definitions, it features more than 100,000 changes from the 10th edition, including 10,000 new words and meanings, and a revamped physical package with a sturdier binding.
"The past decade has been one of the most tumultuous in the last 100 years. More words are entering the language faster," said Morse. "It has typically taken around 10 years from the earliest example of a person using a word to the point of its being so well established that it gets into the dictionary. Now it's not unusual for it to take as little as four years. A lot has to do with that little thing known as the World Wide Web."
Several aspects of the 11th edition were influenced by what M-W learned from its own Web site. "We put up a dictionary in 1996, free for everyone," Morse said, "and knowing what words people look up fascinates us. That's the sort of information a dictionary publisher previously never had access to. Two things in particular come across: people want more usage examples. A definition is an abstraction, but putting it in a well-crafted context is a powerful way of conveying a meaning. The 10th edition had 32,000 usage examples. The 11th has 42,000. Also, people are very interested in phrases and idioms, whether it's something like 'Achilles heel' or an idiomatic phrase like 'do a number on.' The 11th edition has more than 7500 phrases and idioms, a significant increase."
"People are interested not only in newly coined words, but also in words that are newly pertinent," continued Morse. One of the words most frequently looked up by visitors to the Web site these days is "collateral," as in "collateral damage," a phrase that is a new entry in the 11th edition of the Collegiate. Other new entries include "fen-phen," "dot-commer" and "dead-cat bounce." A newly included term such as "macular degeneration" may not be freshly invented, but with the aging of the American population, it takes on a new relevance.
To support the 500,000-copy first printing, Merriam-Webster is planning an 18- to 24-month launch, said marketing director Hillary Hoffman. The back-to-school campaign will include an 11-city tour in which six author/editors will make media and store appearances, followed by a 40-city radio tour on drive-time radio and NPR affiliates. A 20-city TV-satellite tour will continue into next spring. Meanwhile, consumer ads will run in USA Today, People, U.S. News & World Report, Time, Newsweek and other publications. "To increase our branding impressions, we help develop and sponsor the 'Word for the Wise' spots on 150 NPR affiliates," said Hoffman. "In addition, there are our ongoing Internet promotions, which include our Web site's free 'Word for the Day,' which has more than 500,000 subscribers."
The Web site has helped the company reinforce its brand, said Morse, noting a 17% increase in dictionary sales at the same time that Web traffic has grown substantially. "We receive four and a half million visits a month," added M-W CEO Gordon Macomber. "We also receive about 15,000 questions about words and usage every year from people who visit the Web site. We reply to every one with answers from a paragraph to something as long as a page." Macomber views this free service as a way to keep users satisfied. "The happier your customers, the more likely it is that when they're ready to buy a dictionary, they'll turn to you."
"The only way to keep up with the language is by having a full-time staff of lexicographers," added Morse. "We keep 60 or more people in place over the decade. The work is never finished." The results speak for themselves. Morse believes that Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary is the bestselling hardcover book in American publishing history. It has sold 55 million copies since its first appearance in 1898.
