Dictionaries

We have adopted as our official dictionary Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition. We don't necessarily expect everyone to prescribe to this or any particular dictionary as the standard. However, it is important to consult a current edition of whatever dictionary you choose, because usage changes rapidly.

For example, whether a term should appear as two words, two hyphenated words, or one word is often determined by how long it has been in circulation. In many cases, new terms enter the language as two separate words; over time, as the people who use that term (either the general public or specialists in a particular field) continue to use it, the term often acquires a hyphen; sometimes the term becomes so established that, if no confusion results by closing it up, it becomes one word. One example is fundraising;it used to be treated as two words with a hyphenated variant when used as an adjective. Now Webster's closes it up as one word with fund-raising—hyphenated—as an alternate spelling.

When in doubt, look it up.