Websterism

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noun

An orthographic convention due to Noah Webster (1758-1843), American lexicographer and spelling reformer.

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Meanings

nounWebsterism (plural Websterisms)

plural Websterisms

  1. datedAn orthographic convention due to Noah Webster (1758-1843), American lexicographer and spelling reformer.

    […] this improvement will no longer figure as an Americanism or a Websterism.

    1881, Isaac Pitman, Pitman's Journal of Commercial Education
    1 more example

    Again, the spelling of such words as "center" and "traveler" is not an Americanism, though to be found in a few American books, but a Websterism […]

    1860, The North American Review

Origin

From Webster + -ism.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Websterism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Websterism

MLA

“Websterism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Websterism. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Websterism,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Websterism.

Source: Websterism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.