Im umfangreichen Artikel «The Definition of a Dictionary» auf slate.com wird der Merriam-Webster Dictionary porträtiert (via AL Direct). Doch was ist der Unterschied zwischen dem Merriam-Webster Unabdridged und dem Oxford English Dictionary?
«Merriam isn’t the first dictionary company to update its signature reference work or to go digital-only with it, and the Unabridged isn’t even close to the biggest lexicographic resource out there; Oxford University Press has been issuing quarterly online revisions of its mammoth Oxford English Dictionary since 2000. But while the OED has a handful of lexicographers writing definitions in New York, and the legendary tome is revered for its comprehensive historical approach—the most recent printed edition ran to 20 volumes—it’s ultimately an English-as-in-England work. Merriam-Webster’s Unabridged is distinctly American, the seminal sourcebook not only for English as it is written and spoken in the United States but also for the history of lexicography in the United States.»