If Webster wrote the first dictionary, where did he find the words?

The first dictionary by Noah Webster of the English language for American users was called A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language. Webster is widely credited with writing the very first American dictionary, even though a couple of other, less significant American works preceded the Compendious Dictionary. But neither of these had the stature of Webster鈥檚 works, nor did they break away from the British practices and standards as did Webster鈥檚 work. His book was intended to be more correct for American users than the London dictionaries then available.







Thousands of the words and definitions in this early reference book, first published in the year 1806, remain unchanged almost 200 years later. But a review of many of the entries brings home the reality of a vital, changing language. Not only do spellings change over time, (for example, the word 鈥榣eather鈥?did not always have an 鈥榓鈥?in it, and the word 鈥榯ongue鈥?was spelled 鈥榯ung鈥?during Webster鈥檚 time) but meanings change as well, as in the word 鈥業nlaw鈥?which used to be a verb that meant 鈥榯o clear from outlawry, to restore鈥?rather than a noun referring to the family of one鈥檚 spouse.





Furthermore, some words simply go out of style or fall out of use. Have you ever heard a bog or quagmire referred to as a 鈥榤izzy鈥? And even the style of the alphabet letters themselves has changed somewhat. If the lower case letter 鈥榮鈥?fell within a sentence rather than at the beginning, it used to look a lot like the modern lower case 鈥榝鈥? As a result, a 鈥楽eahorfe鈥?was a 鈥榝ea animal鈥? But some of Webster鈥檚 definitions were just a tad off kilter. The Seahorfe, according to Webster, was a 鈥榣arge fea animal鈥?and a 鈥楽ealion鈥?was a 鈥榤arine animal with a mane鈥?



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http://www.answers.com/topic/noah-webste鈥?/a>If Webster wrote the first dictionary, where did he find the words?
In other books. Prolly the bible and such.
I guess from his brain, and asked people for words. Good Question.If Webster wrote the first dictionary, where did he find the words?
He probably went through all of the current books that he had and wrote down every word that he could find on paper, then went back and organized all of them in alphabetical order and gave them definitions. Of course, it most definitely took years to finish.If Webster wrote the first dictionary, where did he find the words?
I've always wondered about that. I think writing a dictionary would be the worst thing in the world. I mean, you are probably going to miss something. I couldn't tell you every word in the English language, that's for sure.