The word ''dord'' is a
dictionary error in
lexicography
Lexicography is the study of lexicons and the art of compiling dictionaries. It is divided into two separate academic disciplines:
* Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries.
* Theoretical le ...
. It was accidentally created, as a
ghost word
In folklore, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from an invisible presence to translucen ...
, by the staff of G. and C. Merriam Company (now part of
Merriam-Webster
Merriam-Webster, Incorporated is an list of companies of the United States by state, American company that publishes reference work, reference books and is mostly known for Webster's Dictionary, its dictionaries. It is the oldest dictionary pub ...
) in the ''
New International Dictionary'', second edition (1934). That dictionary defined the term as a synonym for density used in physics and chemistry in the following way:
dord (dôrd), ''n. Physics & Chem.'' Density.
Philip Babcock Gove
Philip Babcock Gove (June 27, 1902–November 16, 1972) was an American lexicographer who was the editor-in-chief of the ''Webster's Third New International Dictionary'', published in 1961.
Born in Concord, New Hampshire, he received his A.B. fr ...
, an editor at
Merriam-Webster
Merriam-Webster, Incorporated is an list of companies of the United States by state, American company that publishes reference work, reference books and is mostly known for Webster's Dictionary, its dictionaries. It is the oldest dictionary pub ...
who became editor-in-chief of ''
Webster's Third New International Dictionary
''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged'' (commonly known as ''Webster's Third'', or ''W3'') is an American English-language dictionary published in September 1961. It was edited by Philip Babcock Gove a ...
'', wrote a letter to the journal ''American Speech'', fifteen years after the error was caught, in which he explained how the "dord" error was introduced and corrected.
On 31 July 1931, Austin M. Patterson, the dictionary's
chemistry
Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...
editor, sent in a slip reading "D or d, cont./density." This was intended to add "
density
Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the ratio of a substance's mass to its volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' (or ''d'') can also be u ...
" to the existing list of words that the letter "D" can abbreviate. The phrase "D or d" was misinterpreted as a single, word: ''Dord''. This was a plausible mistake because headwords on slips were typed with spaces between the letters, so "D or d" looked very much like "D o r d". The original slip went missing, so a new slip was prepared for the printer, which assigned a
part of speech
In grammar, a part of speech or part-of-speech ( abbreviated as POS or PoS, also known as word class or grammatical category) is a category of words (or, more generally, of lexical items) that have similar grammatical properties. Words that are ...
(
noun
In grammar, a noun is a word that represents a concrete or abstract thing, like living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, and ideas. A noun may serve as an Object (grammar), object or Subject (grammar), subject within a p ...
) and a
pronunciation
Pronunciation is the way in which a word or a language is spoken. To
This may refer to generally agreed-upon sequences of sounds used in speaking a given word or all language in a specific dialect—"correct" or "standard" pronunciation—or si ...
. The would-be word was not questioned or corrected by
proofreader
Proofreading is a phase in the process of publishing where galley proofs are compared against the original manuscripts or graphic artworks, to identify transcription errors in the typesetting process. In the past, proofreaders would place co ...
s.
The entry appeared on page 771 of the dictionary 1934, between the entries for ''
Dorcopsis
''Dorcopsis'' is a genus of marsupial in the family Macropodidae
Macropodidae is a Family (biology), family of marsupials that includes kangaroos, Wallaby, wallabies, tree-kangaroos, wallaroos, pademelons, quokkas, and several other groups. ...
'' (a type of small kangaroo) and
doré (golden in color).
[
On 28 February 1939, an editor noticed "dord" lacked an ]etymology
Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...
and investigated, discovering the error. An order was sent to the printer marked "plate change/imperative/urgent". The non-word "dord" was excised; "density" was added as an additional meaning for the abbreviation "D or d" as originally intended, and the definition of the adjacent entry " Doré furnace" was expanded from "A furnace for refining Doré bullion
Bullion is non-ferrous metal that has been refined to a high standard of elemental purity. The term is ordinarily applied to bulk metal used in the production of coins and especially to precious metals such as gold and silver. It comes from ...
" to "a furnace in which Doré bullion is refined" to close up the space. Gove wrote that this was "probably too bad, for why shouldn't ''dord'' mean 'density'?"ghost word
In folklore, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from an invisible presence to translucen ...
, although inspection of printed copies well into the 1940s shows "dord" still present. The entry "dord" was not completely removed until 1947.
See also
* Boole's rule
In mathematics, Boole's rule, named after George Boole, is a method of numerical integration.
Formula Simple Boole's Rule
It approximates an integral:
\int_^ f(x)\,dx
by using the values of at five equally spaced points:
\begin
& x_0 = a\\
& ...
, a mathematical rule sometimes known as "Bode's rule" due to a typographical error
* Esquivalience
The ''New Oxford American Dictionary'' (''NOAD'') is a single-volume dictionary of American English compiled by American editors at the Oxford University Press.
''NOAD'' is based upon the '' New Oxford Dictionary of English'' (''NODE''), publishe ...
* Fictitious entry
Fictitious or fake entries are deliberately incorrect entries in reference works such as Dictionary, dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps, and directories, added by the editors as #Copyright traps, copyright traps to reveal subsequent plagiarism or ...
* ''Frindle
''Frindle'' is a middle-grade American children’s novel written by Andrew Clements, illustrated by Brian Selznick, and published by Aladdin Paperbacks in 1996. It was the winner of the 2016 Phoenix Award, which is granted by the Children's ...
'', a children's novel in which a fictitious word passes into common parlance
*Mondegreen
A mondegreen () is a mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase in a way that gives it a new meaning. "A misunderstood or misinterpreted word or phrase resulting from a mishearing, esp. of the lyrics to a song". Mondegreens are most often create ...
* Phono-semantic matching
Phono-semantic matching (PSM) is the incorporation of a word into one language from another, often creating a neologism, where the word's non-native quality is hidden by replacing it with phonetically and semantically similar words or roots f ...
* Trap street
In cartography, a trap street is a fictitious entry in the form of a misrepresented street on a map, often outside the area the map nominally covers, for the purpose of "trapping" potential plagiarists of the map who, if caught, would be unable ...
References
{{Reflist
External links
"Dord" at fun-with-words.com; quotes Gove article
Dord: A Ghost Word
Fictitious entries
Lexicography
English words
Error