Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged

I am pleased with the W3. But let me get to its disadvantages first. If you're used to reading without glasses, its small font will task your eyes (see photo for comparison). The typeface of the smaller M-W paperback dictionary, though also tiny, is bolder hence more legible. I understand why for some folks this is more than just a passing irritation. I use reading glasses so I can manage. At almost 6 kg it looks like it can crush a small animal. If you want a dictionary that you can easily grab and quickly find a word in, especially new words, the W3 is not the one you should buy, but something like the M-W Collegiate Dictionary 11th Edition, or its paperback version. It's not as up-to-date as it should be. I knew this beforehand, so it's not a deal breaker.Here’s what I love about it. This issue bears all the signs of a premium, brand new book: decent binding, good paper, neat, and presentable. The board covers are wrapped in blue leather-like material for durability. It's printed in November 2023, in India, practically hot off the press. It was shipped in its thin advertising box that you can keep. I have a few dictionaries now, primarily because I'm fond of them: unabridged, college editions, hardcovers, and handy paperbacks. All of them are great for their purpose. Where the W3 excels is its brilliant coverage of English in the early 20th century, and in its in-depth definitions. This is particularly useful to me since English is my second language. For instance, I often hear politicians contending and one of them will say that his rival’s attacks are just politics. My abridged dictionaries will define politics as having to do with governance; also maneuvering and scheming. But the W3 will go on to give the meaning that clarifies the context for me. Politics 4 a (1): political affairs or business; specifically: competition between competing interest groups or individuals for power and leadership.. c: political activities characterized by artful often dishonest practices especially in securing success of political parties or candidates.For U$80 new at amazon, who also covers the shipping cost, I think the W3 is a good value. I sprayed specks of acrylic paint on its sides since I sometimes notice those super tiny bugs being attracted to books with plain white edges but seem to avoid speckled or painted edges. M-W has an online subscription of the Unabridged, which they regularly update. It's nice. But it lacks the full page illustrations, lists, tables, and those quaint drawings that makes the book an endearing tome. Bottom line, the W3 is still a useful dictionary for everyone, not just language enthusiasts. With the accretion of vocabulary from the 1960s to 2024 a fully updated Unabridged would be a beast of a book that won't likely see the light of day. The W3 may be the last of its kind. I'm glad to have it.

I have the OED and Merriam Webster's revered 2nd Edition (1952). The W2 is an amazing piece of scholarship, and is perhaps the best English dictionary around, including proper names from history, myth, science, etc. as well as a pronouncing gazetteer at the back. However, the Merriam Webster's 3rd (W3) has the most entries ( over 476,000) and includes a lot more scientific terms. It does not include proper names, but it very rich and dense in just about everything that could be considered an English word or a loan-word or a compound word (although I just today noticed it is missing viridarium and cupidinous, which are in W2). This huge tome is for geeks only, as it is massive and weighs a lot. I like to go through it and, with a red pen, underline interesting words. Please note that this dictionary is a bit more DESCRIPTIVE, not strictly PRESCRIPTIVE as the revered W2, which means it sometimes favors newer definitions and pronunciations. However, it is not fully descriptive, which is good, so you can always see how the word evolved over time, starting with the first definition. Love this book!

I have never been much of a diction and grammar, enthusiast! However, it "dawned" on me to look some things up after seeing them in a different "Hue!" with ultra luminescence. I now know why new arrivals to US have such a hard time with English grammar! So many words have different variations, as come from various older languages or "Roots!" Take for instance "Special," also part of "Species"- designed for a dedicated purpose! Then the various different meanings of simple things like the ROYGBIV - spectrum of colors! Even the names of trees have "off-shoots" such as the "Linden Tree," which lines the Unter Den Linden in Berlin, Germany- and itself has numerous variants such as "Box-wood!" The 17th "Strasse" or word simple word "Street" has various different meanings in and of itself, as well as our basic mathematical numbers, etc.... from antiquity to the current era/ "digital" age....I would also recommend this to folks in the US Armed Services, and US State Department or others "serving" abroad as might add "clarity" to a whole "host" of issues.....Bottom-line: It is easy to see the "Bigger Picture" and why so many folks in fact have a very hard time with language and the "Signals" and meanings it can convey, in numerous forms/fashion , from exceedingly "Simple" to highly "C3omplex!" I "RUSH"-ed to buy this, once I realized that the "gilded-cage" of language is very complex even to native "English" speakers..... But it is also easy to be, as in the case of "Chromium" over- "Saturated!"

The printing is too small. We often refer to our dictionaries. We also do crossword puzzles. We are readers.