TWO VIEWS OF A DICTIONARY'S PURPOSE CAME INTO SHARP CONFLICT UPON THE PUBLICATION OF WEBSTER'S "THIRD NEW INTERNATIONAL UNABRIDGED DICTIONARY." THE FIRST VIEW IS THAT A DICTIONARY IS A REFERENCE BOOK ON LANGUAGE ETIQUETTE, AN AUTHORITY FOR MAINTAINING THE PURITY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. THE SECOND IS THAT A DICTIONARY IS A SCIENTIFIC DESCRIPTIVE RECORD OF PAST AND PRESENT ENGLISH USAGE, REGARDLESS OF TASTES, OPINIONS, AND PREJUDICES. THIS SECOND VIEW IS HELD BY THE EDITORS OF THE "THIRD EDITION," A DICTIONARY WHICH PROVIDES DEFINITIONS, LABELLING WHERE APPROPRIATE, AND QUOTATIONS, AND WHICH ALLOWS THE INTELLIGENT READER TO JUDGE THE USE OF A WORD, WITHOUT RELYING UPON AN AUTHORITY. AFTER A CONSIDERATION OF WHAT SHOULD BE EXPECTED OF A CONTEMPORARY INTERNATIONAL UNABRIDGED DICTIONARY, IT CAN BE CONCLUDED THAT "WEBSTER'S THIRD INTERNATIONAL" WILL BE, IF IT IS NOT ALREADY, REGARDED AS A VALUABLE LEXICOGRAPHIC TOOL AND AN ENLIGHTENED ADVANCE IN THE WRITING OF DICTIONARIES. (THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN "LANGUAGE, LINGUISTICS, AND SCHOOL PROGRAMS, PROCEEDINGS OF THE SPRING INSTITUTES, 1963." CHAMPAIGN, ILL., NCTE, 1963.) (MM)