Merriam-Webster's 12th edition is the first hardcover in more than two decades

WBUR | By Andrea Shea

Published January 2, 2026 at 11:58 AM EST

For the first time in more than 20 years, Merriam-Webster is out with a new edition of its “Collegiate Dictionary.”

The 12th Edition includes some 5,000 new words and weighs almost five pounds.

WBUR’s Andrea Shea reports.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Related Content

Making a resolution to read more this year? Consider 1992's 'Waiting to Exhale'

Andrew Limbong

Andrew Limbong and BA Parker from the Books We Love podcast are revisiting Terry McMillan's classic, Waiting to Exhale.
Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben on their new novel, 'Gone Before Goodbye'

Mary Louise Kelly, Elena Burnett, Sarah Handel

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben about their thriller, Gone Before Goodbye.
The world could eradicate tuberculosis, author John Green argues

Here & Now Newsroom

Tuberculosis was, for millennia, was the world's deadliest infection.
What being around death taught this hospital chaplain about life

Marielle Segarra, Malaka Gharib

J.S. Park helps patients and their families cope with death every day as a hospital chaplain. He explains what to expect as a person is dying, and how to reckon with uncomfortable feelings about death.
Just because she won a Nobel doesn't mean Malala didn't break some rules in college

Tonya Mosley

In 2014, Malala Yousafzai became the youngest person to win a Nobel Prize. In Finding My Way, she writes about her life at Oxford and beyond. Originally broadcast Oct. 21, 2025.

You make NHPR possible.

NHPR is nonprofit and independent. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. Your support makes this news available to everyone.

Give today. A monthly donation of $5 makes a real difference.