Putting together a dictionary is hard. Or if you prefer, difficile or Augean. It’s one of those indispensable elements of civilization that many of us take for granted, like electricity. But its ...

An excerpt from Dictionary People investigates the story of amateurs collaborating alongside the academic elite to create a foundation for our vocabulary. Every item on this page was chosen by a Town ...

Not long after my arrival, though, everything changed. Pageviews were declining for Merriam-Webster.com, the company’s free, ad-driven revenue engine: Tweaks to Google’s algorithms had punished ...

It’s a new chapter for Dictionary.com. The online dictionary added 566 new words to its database Wednesday, as well as 348 new definitions for existing entries and 2,256 revised definitions. The new ...

Roslyn Petelin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond ...

For a dictionary editor, Erin McKean doesn't come across as much of an authority figure. Though some people think of lexicographers as the final arbiters of what count as "real" words, they're more ...

As slang finds its way into lexical institutions, experts ponder its place on the internet. By Julia Carpenter There was a time when Urban Dictionary felt essential. Twenty-six years ago, when ...