Who decides whats in the dictionary? - Ilan Stavans

05:37

This mushroom will kill you before you know what’s happening - Michael Beug

25:59

Dinosaurs on Sesame Street! | Sesame Street Full Episode

05:22

A brief history of Spanish - Ilan Stavans

05:41

Greek mythology’s greatest warrior - Iseult Gillespie

01:35

Sesame Street: Bike Song with a Beat!

04:52

These 70 writers are actually all the same person - Ilan Stavans

156,291 views

Who decides whats in the dictionary? - Ilan Stavans with tags dictionary, merriam webster, merriam webster dictionary, lexicography, lexicographer, dictionaries, words, new words, slang, robert cawdrey, noah webster, united states, united states english, george merriam, charles merriam, language, linguistics, word meaning, word definitions, english, english language, evolution of language, ilan stavans, lisa labracio, education, animation, history, ted, ted-ed, ted ed, teded, ted education

Explore the history of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary and find out how old words get redefined and how new words are added.

While the concept of a dictionary dates back to ancient civilizations, the first English dictionary wasn’t published until 1604. In the centuries that followed, many more dictionaries were written by individual authors who chose what to include or exclude, with most quickly becoming outdated. One 19th century lexicon had a different fate. Ilan Stavans digs into the history of Webster's Dictionary.

Lesson by Ilan Stavans, directed by Lisa LaBracio.

Support Our Non-Profit Mission

----------------------------------------------

Connect With Us

----------------------------------------------

Keep Learning

----------------------------------------------

Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Leonardo Monrroy, Sumedh Ghaisas, Maryam, Bethany Connor, Jeremy Shimanek, Mark Byers, Avinash Amarnath, Xuebicoco, Rare Media, Rayo, Po Foon Kwong, NinjaBoffin, Jesse Jurman, Josue Perez Miranda, Scott Markley, Elija Peterson, Ovidiu Mrd, Xavier dupont, paul g mohney, Aravind Battaje, Nathan Giusti, Helen Lee, Anthony Benedict, Karthik Balsubramanian, John Hong, Annastasshia Ames, Amy Lopez, Vinh-Thuy Nguyen, Liz Candee, Kathryn Vacha, Ugur Doga Sezgin, Anthony Arcis, Chung Wah Gnapp, Karmi Nguyen, Yelena Baykova, Harshita Jagdish Sahijwani, Nick Johnson, Carlos H. Costa, Roberto Patrick, Les Howard, Jennifer Kurkoski, Ryan B Harvey, Abhishek Bansal, Akinola Emmanuel, Jose Arcadio Valdes Franco, Karl Laius, JY Kang, Heidi Stolt, Alexis Hevia and Christina Salvatore.