Webster's New Encyclopedic Dictionary [antikvár]

Using The Dictionary Dictionary Entries The dictionary is made up of many small paragraphs, each giving information about a particular word or phrase. These paragraphs are known as dictionary entries, and the word or phrase being explained is known as the main entry or entry word. Two features set off the main entry to make it easy to find; it is printed in boidface type, and it sticks out into the margin just a little to catch the eye. The main entry may take any of several forms. It may be a single letter, like a, b, or c, of a combination of letters, like JVor ESP. Most main entries are single words, like run, see, pretzel, and eugenics, but many are combinadons of words, like hitchhike, nitty-gritty, and French horn. There are also main entries that are only parts of words. These include prefixes like anti-, suffixes like -ism, and combining forms like bio-and -ectomy that are used only to form other words. It is possible to make any number of new words with prefixes, suffixes, and combining forms. Order of Entries Throughout the dictionary, words are alphabetized by first letter, then second letter, and so on, regardless of spaces, hyphens, or of meaning relationships. Thus, you will find the word basenji coming after basement and before base on balls and Aouri between hourglass and hourly. Words spelled with a numeral or abbreviation (like St. or Mc) will be found in the place they would occupy if spelled out (as Saint or Mac). A-1 follows and comes before aorta, appears between/our-footed and four-hand, and McCoy comes after Maccabees and before mace. When main entries are spelled exactly alike but have different functions in the sentence or have different origins, they are called homograpiis. Each homograph is entered at its own place and distinguished from other homographs by a small raised numeral at the very beginning. 'American . . .n. . . 'American adj. . . The order of homographs is historical. That is, the oldest word is entered first, and related homographs (all those having the same origin) are grouped together. Thus, ^bow ("a bending of the head or body in respect, submission, agreement, or greeting"), which is related to 'fcoif ("to bend the head, body, or knee in greeting, reverence, respect, or submission"), comes before ^bow ("rainbow"). And *bow ("to bend into a curve") follows the related ^how and is ahead of ^bow ("the forward part of a ship"). Main entries that are spelled with all of the same letters but differ in the appearance of a space or hyphen or in capitalization arc not homographs. They are alphabetized according to the following rules. • Full words are entered before word parts, and beginning word elements come ahead of final word elements. ad . . . n . . . ad". . prefix. . . -ad . . . adv suffix. . . • Entries printed in small letters come before capitalized ones. 'box«er. . . n . . . 'boxer n . . . Box>er. . .n. . . • Compounds that are written as one word are entered before hyphenated compoimds, and hyphenated compounds are entered ahead of those made up of separate words. iax'Ofr. . . n . . . iay off. . . t>i>. . . iay-up . . . n . . . lay up . . . wf. . . low>down . . . n . . . iow-down . . . adj. . . Guide Words___ To aid you in finding the right word quicldy, Webster's New Encyclopedic Dictionary iias a pair of guide words at the top of every page. The guide words are usually the alphabetically first and last boldface entries on the page. Any boldface term—a main entry, a variant spelling, an inflected form, a word run on undefined at the end of an entry, a phrase run on and defined at the end of an entry, or even a word in a list of undefined words—can be a guide word as long as it is alphabetically the first or last word on the page. The first word of the pair is normally the first main entry on the page and the second is usually the last main entry. The guide words themselves are always in alphabetical order. When the alphabetically last word on one page would follow the first guide word on the next page, it is not picked as a guide word. Variant Entries_ A number of main entries have a second or sometimes a third spelling shown in boldface type. These alternate spellings are called variants.