Discovery of the Word Dord

Date: February 28, 1939 • Location: Rome, Italy

In one of the most famous errors in lexicography, the erroneous word dord was discovered in Webster's New International Dictionary by an editor.

Lexicography is the study of lexicons and the art of compiling dictionaries. It is divided into two separate academic disciplines:Practical lexicography is the compiling, writing, and editing of dictionaries. Theoretical lexicography is the scholarly study of semantic, orthographic, syntagmatic, and paradigmatic features of lexemes of the lexicon (vocabulary) of a language, developing theories of dictionary components and structures linking the data in dictionaries, the needs for information by users in specific types of situations, and how users may best access the data incorporated in printed and electronic dictionaries. This is sometimes referred to as "metalexicography" as it is concerned with the finished dictionary itself.