Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition, Laminated Hardcover, Plain-Edged 11th Edition

This dictionary, MW11 for short, may be the first to list bubkes, coscenarist, or MEGO. Entries now appear in a sans-serif font, basically an improvement, though the abbreviation for Illinois looks absurd.The cover claims 10,000 new words and meanings, including long ball, peloton, rabbit-eared bandicoot (who would seek that under r rather than b?), dance card, megapixel, qi, ki. So what is missing from the previous edition, MW10? An informal survey of a half dozen pages shows that practically nothing of value is gone (lonelily, pein, Daoist are deleted). Changes include a few new senses, illustrative quotes, revised definitions, and antedatings. The entry for -er now shows beautifuller with double l, in concord with the entry for -ful. There are about 70 more pages; MW10 had only about 5 more than MW9.The total number of entries should be greeted with skepticism. There are about a thousand undefined entries in a list of "non-" words, more than a thousand in the un- list, and several thousand more in sixteen additional lists. If it occurs to you to seek coscenarist in the co- list, these lists might be of use. There are also a great many highly technical terms, such as ethylenediaminetetraacetate(s); writings that might contain these are apt to contain quite a few terms not found in this or any similar dictionary. Nonetheless, MW11 looks pretty good after a comparison of a few random pages of this dictionary with the corresponding parts of four similarly-priced dictionaries. At least two competitors have such entries as blank endorsement, blankety-blank, terra alba, or blague, but most or all omit such MW11 entries as: term of art, blanket chest, or the adjective terminate. Recently I found the word Atropos in a 1950 New-Zealand/British novel; it's not in MW11 (except in atropine's etymology), but was found in the competitors; on the other hand, only MW11 offers an explanation of what people who quirk this or that in a (usually) British novel are doing.Definitions are sometimes a little unclear. The 85-word definition for gyroscope is apt to set your head spinning, and you may need to reread it to determine a gyroscope's purpose (I'm not sure it says). There's a sensible usage note for "hopefully", but MW11's appeal to "disjuncts" is less likely to persuade than the competitors' references to "sentence adverbs" or something similar. Many more illustrative examples would help.One appendix contains foreign words and phrases; it's unclear why "a la mode" or Weltschmerz are in the main listing with "a la page" or Weltbild in the appendix. Other appendices list biographic and geographic entries, so, confronted with an unfamiliar proper noun, you may be unsure where to look. Gretna Green, is that biographical or geographical? (Neither, but MW11 has it nonetheless.) These appendices suit the publisher, since during MW11's life there will be new censuses that affect the geographic entries and deaths, elections, awards, etc., that affect the biographic entries, and Merriam can reset the relatively few pages of the appendices more easily than many pages of the main listing. Nonetheless, it is inconvenient for the user.The final page contains the addresses for the Language Research Service. The introduction to MW10 informed us that there is no evidence for the form "merer", so years ago I sent the LRS their first citation; it happens that OED provided another, and an Internet search for "even merer" provides four more, but MW11's introduction still claims that there is no evidence for it. LRS is better at providing information; it gave me a Robert Frost citation to accompany my grandaunt's expression "the cat wanted the guest to make of her".A nice feature is the date of earliest known appearance for each word. MW11 extends this to words like "jehu" that come from a proper name (less clear is why Jehu is in the main listing rather than the biographical appendix), though possibly the date applies to Jehu rather than jehu. Similarly, the date for clueless applies to its literal use, not to the modern idiomatic use whose date might interest you. Definitions are given in date order, so you can usually see how meanings develop over time. Most unfamiliar words have only a single definition, or the unfamiliar meaning you seek may be the oldest, so this is a win-win feature for the user.The dictionary comes with a wonderful CD (optional at higher price), with which many objections disappear. It is much harder to find coscenarist, bo, ked, or Gretna Green with the print edition than with the CD, which incidentally expands abbreviations. You can locate all entries having a usage note containing the word Scottish. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be an easy way to search for all occurrences of Scottish in definitions, etymologies, and usage notes simultaneously, though there is a cumbersome way to do this with an advanced search. It seems pronunciations aren't searchable beyond rhymes and homophones, so for example you cannot find all words with the rare sound that ends "smooth", or all pronunciations marked with the obelus (division sign) that indicates controversy. (Merriam is invited to add the obelus to the first pronunciation of bruschetta, which deviates from the Italian.) With the CD you can also find the other 27-letter single-word entry, the longest word(s) with no repeated letter, the anagrams of abcdeflos or Minnesota, or all words whose earliest known appearance falls in a particular year (the most recent appears to be 2000, for tanga, the Tajiki "cent"); if solving crosswords, you can find words of the form ?p??m?.Certainly I would not recommend buying a college dictionary without a CD version. Beyond that it is hard to choose, if you can afford just one. My inclination is that if you are involved in scientific or technical pursuits, this is probably the right one. Otherwise, you may be better off with one of the competitors. I don't recommend owning precisely two dictionaries however; you will need a third as a tiebreak.

must have book for middle schoolers.

We encourage our elementary aged kids to do things the "old school" way. It's got a little weight to it, but the kids manage. Basic dictionary with sufficient definition variations for each entry.

Awesome!

I'm a fan of history and etymology. As far as I know, Merriam-Webster's was the first collegiate dictionary to include "first date of use" in its definitions. One cannot overstate the value of this dictionary to literate students as well as advanced scholars. I personally don't recommend confusing the origins of words with their current meanings, though. (You wouldn't treat a cold with leeches, would you?) They are of historical significance. Anybody not want to learn more about history? I didn't think so. A truly great dictionary.

Great, but the phonetics symbols in Kindle format are too little to read

Paying for itself, daily.

Please note: almost every negative review on this web-page is for the Kindle version while reviews and ratings for the book soar! I don't understand why Amazon lists the Kindle version along with the paper copy. These are two different products and should be rated and reviewed separately. If listed separately, the ratings for this book would be nearly 10.0!Although I hardly use the bundled software download for Windows it seems to work well and appears to contain the entire book. The free subscription is a nice bonus.The following review is for the hardcover book only, which is available in a number of different bindings, with tab index, or plain edge, with flashy dust jacket, or laminated graphic hardcover, and even one with a faux-leather covering. There is one with a CD, which has been superseded by the free bundled download version (access key is inside the book). Not all bindings are promoted equally on Amazon, but if you search with the right ISBN you should receive the style you want. Again, Amazon is remiss for not listing the different ISBNs and their respective editions all in one convenient place.After all these years (106!) the Merriam-Webster Collegiate keeps on getting better. The 11th edition is another masterly revision with sharper printing, clean typography, and hundreds of crisp new line drawings. It's now a more beautiful book than ever--one that begs to be used.The bright red mylar-laminated boards may not have the same appeal as the older cloth binding, but the book seems to be holding up fine with my daily use. The adhesive spine is now more flexible and allows better viewing into the gutter margin. The rear end-paper no longer displays the table of pronunciation, as in previous editions, so I photocopied the table from page 40a and oh-so-carefully pasted it inside the rear cover. I hope the publisher will restore the printed end-papers in future print runs, even if it means having to pay a few cents more. One other annoyance is the very small type size used for the tables. These tables are well done and very sharply printed, and there are plenty of them, but I find myself groping for the magnifying glass to read them. All of the tables have plenty of white space and could be printed a bit larger without taking up more space. But these are mere quibbles.I've used this Merriam-Webster 11th edition (2012) for over a year and its excellence is evident throughout. I find its wide coverage of drugs and chemicals impressive. I had forgotten what some of my prescription drugs were for. The Collegiate 11th told me. Food additives, vitamins, supplements, the latest words from the life sciences, such as epigenome and transgenetic are all there. One will also stumble across the occasional goofy neologism such as staycation and helicopter-parent, along with all the philosophical and ink-horn terms, idioms, and slang that one expects to find in a fine dictionary.The front matter, those introductory articles most people never bother to read, are some of the most beautifully written expository prose I've ever read, and there's a generous helping, too. This is highly polished, human-edited prose about the history of the English Language, how the dictionary came to be written, how entries are crafted, and how to use the book to best advantage. It's written especially so the intelligent layperson can understand and appreciate the richness of this fabulous book. These articles alone are worth the price of the book.Yes indeed, the art of lexicography is truly alive and well at Merriam-Webster. Kudos to all the folks in Springfield, CT, who made this fine edition possible. I'll be watching for the 12th edition.