The ''American College Dictionary'' was the first

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

dictionary and was later expanded to create the ''

Random House Dictionary of the English Language ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary'' is a large American dictionary, first published in 1966 as ''The Random House Dictionary of the English Language: The Unabridged Edition''. Edited by Editor-in-chief Jess Stein, it contained 315, ...

''. First published in 1947, ''The American College Dictionary'' was edited by

Clarence Barnhart Clarence Lewis Barnhart (1900–1993) was an American lexicographer best known for editing the ''Thorndike-Barnhart'' series of graded dictionaries, published by Scott Foresman & Co. which were based on word lists and concepts of definition d ...

based on the 1927 New ''

Century Dictionary ''The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia'' is one of the largest encyclopedic dictionaries of the English language. In its day it was compared favorably with the ''Oxford English Dictionary,'' and frequently consulted for more factual informati ...

''.

History

The

publishing company entered the reference book market after World War II. They acquired the rights to the ''

'' and the ''

Dictionary of American English ''A Dictionary of American English on Historical Principles'' (''DAE'') is a dictionary of terms appearing in English in the United States that was published in four volumes from 1938 to 1944 by the University of Chicago Press. Intended to pick u ...

'', both out of print.Barbara Ripp Safford and Margaret Irby Nichols, eds. ''Guide to reference materials for school library media centers'' (1998), p. 217

Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...

, ''Welcome to the Monkey House: A Collection of Short Works'' (1998), pp. 118–23

Development

Many scholars participated in the development of the dictionary with over 300 specialists assisting. For medical and psychological in the dictionary, many physicians in the New York City area where Random House was headquartered gave their assistance. In 1947, the dictionary was published, being edited by Clarence Barnhart and was based primarily on ''The New Century Dictionary'', an abridgement of the ''Century''. It was originally sold for $5.00 and included 1432 pages.

Later adaptations

In the late 1950s, it was decided to publish an expansion of the ''American College Dictionary'', which had been modestly updated with each reprinting since its publication. Under editors Jess Stein and

Laurence Urdang Laurence Urdang (March 21, 1927 – August 21, 2008) was a lexicographer, editor and author noted for first computerising the unabridged ''Random House Dictionary of the English Language'', published in 1966. He was also the founding editor ...

, they augmented the ''American College Dictionary'' with large numbers of entries in all fields, primarily proper names, and published it in 1966 as '' The Random House Dictionary of the English Language: The Unabridged Edition''. It was the first dictionary to use computers in its compilation and

typesetting Typesetting is the composition of text by means of arranging physical ''type'' (or ''sort'') in mechanical systems or '' glyphs'' in digital systems representing '' characters'' (letters and other symbols).Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random ...

Commentary

When the ''American College Dictionary'' was first published, '' The Journal of the American Medical Association'' called it "more modern than any other similar book" and that the dictionary had included "considerable information not available in other dictionaries, such as rules for punctuation, proofreader's marks and notes on footnotes and bibliography". American writer, broadcaster, and logophile

Charles Harrington Elster Charles Harrington Elster (born 1957, New York City) is an American writer, broadcaster, and logophile. In 1998, he cofounded and cohosted the weekly public radio show ''A Way with Words ''A Way with Words'' is an American weekly public radio ...

described the 1947 edition of the ''American College Dictionary'' as a "landmark" among dictionaries.

References

English dictionaries American non-fiction books {{dictionary-stub