The word on words is in the reference section

A modern library contains many types of items, but reference works are a staple. A reference book is a book one uses to find an authoritative piece of information, and it is arranged to facilitate consultation. Only an odd or idle person would sit down and read a reference work from cover to cover.

Chief among reference works is the dictionary. Most people have some sort of dictionary in their homes. It is estimated that the English language, which has by far the largest vocabulary of any language in the world, contains about 500,000 “common” words and an equal number of technical words.

The Greeks and the Romans were the first to create dictionaries. These were not compendiums of all Greek or Latin words, but lists of rare or specialized words. Monks and scholars in the Middle Ages used dictionaries, but again, these were really lists of tough Latin words that were defined by easier ones. Even the first English dictionaries were not meant to be a complete record of the language. Robert Cawdry’s 1604 “A Table Alphabeticall of Harde Wordes” defined 3,000 words that weren’t in common use. It wasn’t until 1721 that Nathan Bailey published a 60,000-word dictionary that attempted to include all English words.

At about this time the French and the Italians created dictionaries whose purpose extended beyond defining words. Their purpose was to set a fixed standard for proper French or Italian. Such a prescriptive dictionary set a high standard, and literary luminaries like Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope and Samuel Johnson thought such a work should exist for English.

It was Johnson who undertook this immense task and bragged that he could accomplish it in only three years, even though it had taken the French 40 years to complete theirs. Eight years later, Johnson completed “The Dictionary of the English Language.” Johnson had combed through British authors’ works to build his word list and arrive at definitions. And though he was dissatisfied with the final product, he made an important discovery about the English language which he explained in his elegant preface.

Unlike the French, who had tried to preserve and enshrine their language for all time, Johnson determined that the English language could not be fixed or locked in time. It is a fluid, lively, adaptable language and can be recorded only at one particular point in time.

Johnson’s dictionary contained about 43,000 words. So how did we get to half a million words in 250 years? English grows largely through the influence of other languages (“rendezvous” and “taco”) and the growth of technologies (“laptop”). We have a penchant for adding prefixes and suffixes to existing words to change their meaning (“coolant” and “telephone”), combining words to make new ones (“housewife” and “greenhouse”). We also love to blend words, such as Lewis Carroll’s portmanteau words like “motor” + “hotel” = “motel.”

The largest dictionary at our library (indeed anywhere) is the “Oxford English Dictionary.” The 20-volume set includes over 600,000 words and gives the full etymology of the word’s usage. The smallest would probably be a pocket dictionary on a special subject such as literary terms or Tagalog.

In America, it was Noah Webster who set about defining American English. He began by writing a grammar and spelling book because he was so horrified at the state of American elementary education. “The First Part of the Grammatical Institute of the English Language” was published in the early 1780s. Because of its cover, everyone just called it the “Blue-Backed Speller,” and it stayed in use for 100 years.

In 1807 Webster started work on “An American Dictionary of the English Language,” which took 27 years to complete. Not only is compiling a dictionary a gigantic task, but Webster took it upon himself to learn 26 languages in order to trace word histories! This dictionary also standardized much of American spelling. Colour became “color” and musick became “music.” Even more important, it included truly American originals like “skunk” and “hickory” and “chowder.”

Incidentally, you can use a descendant of Noah’s dictionary at www.m-w.com. The basic dictionary is free, or you can purchase more complete editions. Best of all, the online dictionary doesn’t just spell out the pronunciation. By clicking on the audio icon, the user can actually hear the word pronounced.