— The American Language Academy · Lineage Archive —

Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language

Noah Webster · 1828

The American Dictionary of the English Language, published by Noah Webster in 1828, is the founding monument of American lexicography. With it, Webster declared American English a register distinct from British English — worthy of its own canonical reference, standardized through American convention rather than English precedent, and pedagogically organized for an American readership.

The Academy honors Webster's project by maintaining this archival surface as the historical-lineage anchor under which contemporary American lexicography proceeds. The contemporary continuation of the work Webster began is Standard American 250, the inaugural codified standard of the American language, published on the Fourth of July, Two Thousand and Twenty-Six — the Republic's two hundred and fiftieth year.

— The Lineage Continues —

The Editorial Monuments of American English Lexicography

  • MDCCCXXVIII Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language Noah Webster
  • MCMXIX Mencken's The American Language H. L. Mencken
  • MMXXVI McWhorter's Black American John McWhorter
  • MMXXVI Garner's Standard American Bryan Garner

This volume is in the public domain. The Academy's archival surface preserves Webster's 1828 framing intact and links it to the contemporary continuation. The lineage holds.