Re: Order of meanings in dictionaries

[Quinn C]

* Stefan Ram:

> I heard that the AHD was, when it was first published, to be
> a "new" kind of dictionary, where the meanings of a word
> were /not/ listed in historical order (as in Webster's), but
> with the /current/ meaning listed first. Please allow me to
> quote the AHD itself!
>
>|Entries containing more than one sense are arranged for the
>|convenience of /contemporary/ dictionary users with /the
>|central and often the most commonly sought meanings first/.
> Quotation from the AHD from 1996 (slashes added by me [S.R.]).
>
> However, my personal experience is often quite the opposite!
>
> For one example, what is your understanding of,
> "the meal was terrific!"?
>
> Longman's Dictionary of American English from 2008 has as
> the first meaning:
>
>|1 (informal) very good or enjoyable
>
> , the AHD from 1996 has,
>
>|1. Causing terror or great fear; terrifying:
>
> and only as number "3." "very good". So to me this looks
> exactly as if the AHD gives the meanings in /historical/ order!

Collins Cobuild was, I believe, the first dictionary to do what you
describe in a really systematic manner, based on a corpus. The
"terrifying" meaning doesn't even make the cut:

<https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/terrific>

(The Cobuild entry is usually on top, followed by other dictionaries.)

--
No ... it's a good thing that one of the most famous bigots
in the country [now supports Bernie].
-- Page Kreisman, talking about Joe Rogan

[Peter T. Daniels]

(Will Stefan see this?)

No, "central and often the most commonly sought meanings" does
not mean 'with the /current/ meaning listed first'. AHD abandons
objectivity (it was created in reaction to the M-W Third International,
which was so _descriptive_ that it actually had an entry for the f-word
(I'm sure the Stasi wouldn't allow Stefan to see that spelled out). The
AHD preserves _opinion_ rather than data.

But what aroused the most ire in 1961 was that it recognized that
words take on new meanings over the decades. James Michener
(deservedly popular novelist) wrote a review -- in which he confessed
his chagrin that a sentence he'd written was used as evidence for
the 'happen' meaning of "transpire."

AHD's treatment of "terrific" is inexplicable. The meaning needs
to be registered, because traditionally non-specialist dictionaries
of English include every word in Shakespeare and the KJV; the
OED will be happy to tell you how long it was regularly used with
the 'terrifying' meaning.

But it's very reliable for etymologies, which were overseen by
Calvert Watkins, and in the back is a dictionary of IE roots that
are found in English. Long afterward, another one was added
for Semitic words that have been borrowed into English, prepared
by John Huehnergard.