Webster’s Dictionary is any of the English language dictionaries edited in the early 19th century by Noah Webster, an American lexicographer, as well as numerous related or unrelated dictionaries that have adopted the Webster’s name in his honor.
Webster’s endeavors were at first poorly received. Culturally conservative Federalists denounced the work as radical – too inclusive in its lexicon and even bordering on vulgar. Meanwhile, Webster’s old foes, the Jeffersonian Republicans, attacked the man, labeling him mad for such an undertaking. However, Webster’s dictionaries established a standardized American English during a context of emergent and unstable American socio-political and cultural identity.