PREFACE TO THE REVISED EDITION
rUF- V]RSr edition of W/w Random House
Co/h ，，，e Dic lionarv appeared seven years ago，
it was immediately received with x~，idespread ap-
proval lk>r its complete， authoritative， and up-to-
date coverage o[\" the English language. To main-
tain this position of leadership， the permanent
lexicographic staff oF Random House has pre-
pared this newly revised edition.
While we have retained those qualities and fea-
tures that have served the users well. we have nov，
expanded and revised our coverage signilicantly
to make the dictionary even more helpful. Such
recent terms as tl?ltcrA~ote， s/ reoqciH，.，，， massa~4e
par/ur， desi ~Hated hitler， ciAdlt-track， job bank，
OPEC， and dotddc-Uieit--to mention just a few--
have been included. New meanings of old words
---for example， /aw~dur and ，vzom ，a/l have been
added. Definitions have often been modernized or
improved， frequently as a rcsult of the good-willed
suggestions and cornments of users.
We have avoided making changes simply for
the sake of change itself or as a calculated means
of drawing public attention. Our guiding policy
on all Random House dictionaries， from the time
the program began more than a generation ago，
has beera to give the user tile inl)rmation he vvanls
and needs as reliably， clearly， and quickly as pos-
sible. Our dictionaries have always enjoyed the
warm approval and preference of discerning and
demanding users. It is our sincere hope that this
revision will continue to warrant the reputation of
the RtfCD as the most complete arid authoritative
dictionary of its kind ever published.
JFss SI l lx
PREF&CE TO THE FIRST EDITION
N ItlE DIiCADt.S recently past， especially， since
~rorld War II， tile educational standards of the
world have been extended to ernbrace more people
than ever bct-，re. Literacv has increased enor-
mously. Coupled with the technological advances
of the period， tile necessity R~r reading and study
has resulted in an unprecedented interest in words.
7hc dictionary has traditionally been the only
source of inR)rrnation on language for the majority
ofpeopie. In it they expect to find how a vcord is
spelled， how it rriay be h2，phenated， hey，: it is
pronounced， what its various forrns are. what its
meanings are. and what its origins and history
;ire. They also expect to find v， hether a word is
technical or L-z enerai， v~hether it can be used in
polite coinpany or not， and even whether some-
one ~ho is called a certain v~ord is justified in
feeling offended. They want unlhmiliar objccts
illustrated and particular places pinpointed on
ramps: they ~allt biographical infi)rmation， geo-
graphical， demograf~hic， and political data， ab-
bi-eviations， symbols， synonynls， antonyms， usage
notes- in short， people expect to lind condensed
bet~een the covers of a dictionary tile knowledge
of the ~orld :is reflected in their language. Above
:ill， they demand that this kno，~vledge be accurate
and up to date. Indeed， why not? The dictionary
is often the only reference book of any kind that
many people ever ov，，n.
That these prodigious demands are met is. of
course， no accident. A dictionary is the product of\"
specialists， linguists， and highly trained editors
who are devoted to researching language and in-
formation and to interpreting it and presenting
it in understandable tbrm.
The RaHdom House College Dictionao is an
abridgment of The Random ttouse Dictionam， el
the Lwglish LanguaF， e--Tlw Unabridged Edition，
and its style follows that of the RttD. No dic-
tionary， no matter how extensive， could record
the entire English language. It is obvious， then，
that the editors of any dictionary are cornpelled
to exercise discretion in what is to be included.
The goal cannot be completeness: the goal must
be ，judicious selectivity. There is no dearth of re-
sources on language. In fact. the question is not
Where do you begin? it is How， when， and where
do you stop?
The Reference Department :it Random House
has been actively engaged in lexicographic re-
search for more than tv， enty years. In the past ten
years， througl-i the use of electronic data proccss-
ing equipment， it has been possible to pursue
research programs in language that lhr outstrip
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