Merriam-Webster Serves Up an Amuse-Bouche of New Words

More new entries added to Eleventh Edition of Collegiate^® Dictionary

SPRINGFIELD, MASS., September 2005 — The latest version of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition is fresh off the press—and hungry word-lovers everywhere are savoring an amuse-bouche ("a small complimentary appetizer offered at some restaurants") of nearly 100 new words and senses added to America's best-selling dictionary. These newest entries join the more than 10,000 new words and meanings introduced when the groundbreaking Eleventh Edition launched in July 2003. The 2005 update brings the in-print total to more than 1.2 million copies for this edition, which for the first time combined a print dictionary with a CD-ROM and online access.

Also new to the 2005 copyright of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition are hospitalist ("a physician who specializes in treating hospitalized patients of other physicians in order to minimize the number of hospital visits by other physicians"), and cybrarian ("a person whose job is to find, collect, and manage information that is available on the World Wide Web").

"The emergence of hospitalist as a term entering the general vocabulary and showing up frequently in the popular press is part of a trend we've been observing," said John M. Morse, president and publisher of Merriam-Webster Inc. "New words in the fields of health and medicine seem to be rivaling those in electronic technology. The words are not just words for diseases and their cures (although those are plentiful), but often refer to new ways in which care is delivered and paid for, as is the case with hospitalist."

"This trend has been in evidence since at least the mid-1990s," said Morse, "during which time we first entered many other related health-care words, such as managed care, medigap, preferred provider, and telemedicine."

"As for the word cybrarian," Morse continued, "it's a good example of how new technologies often create new jobs. It began being used back in the 1990s to describe a new kind of researcher, one that worked exclusively with online resources. People had been searching the Internet and other online databases since the 1980s, but with the proliferation of information online and with the maturation of powerful search engines and the development of easy-to-use graphical user interfaces, the potential for online research grew to the extent that this new occupation became a reality."

Merriam-Webster, Incorporated
Merriam-Webster Inc. acquired the rights to revise and publish Noah Webster's dictionaries in 1843. Since then, Merriam-Webster has maintained an ongoing commitment to innovation, scholarship, and love of language. Today, the company continues as the leader in both print and electronic language reference publishing with reference products, learning tools, and word games.

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