The Universal Webster [antikvár]

Prefae In compiling the 'Universai Webster', we felt that we were confronted with two fundamental tasks: namely, to present a comprehensive vocabulary, which would cover the various aspects of the English language, asd to give deflnitions which would be both elear and simple. We have endeavored to include, to the extent possible in a pocket dictionary, all the words in every-day use, as well as modern technical terms, and the names of plants, animals and minerals, which are essential to every dictionary. In addition, we have incorporated the more difficult words which a reader of English is likely to come across in newspapers and books* and which for the most part are of Latin or French derivaíion, We have therefore adopted a flexible method of selection, favoring those words which constitute modern and generál usage, and the rarer words essential to a full understanding of the richness of the English literary language. In attempting to realize our second objective-clear and simple deflnitions-we were guided by the one aspect which should reign supreme in dictionary-making: the wish to give the reader a lucid and complete explanation in words which he will understand. We have, therefore, refrained from giving mere synonyms, and, instead, concentrated on deflnitions which convey the meaning of a word in terms the reader is likely to know. This should eliminate the need for further reference to the explanation of words contained in a deflnition. The fundamental words, such as main verbs, conjunctions, prep-