The National Endowment for the Humanities awarded the University of Central Florida Board of Trustees $349,999 on November 1, 2026, under the Promotion of the Humanities Division of Preservation and Access program (CFDA 45.149) to create comprehensive online editions of Noah Webster's dictionaries.
The project will produce searchable digital editions of the Compendious Dictionary of the English Language (1806) and the American Dictionary of the English Language (1828), with search functionality comparable to modern scholarly dictionaries. Current digital versions offer only basic transcriptions or scans lacking important search functions and critical content. The award funds creation of a searchable 1828 Dictionary edition in time for its 200th anniversary, followed by a searchable 1806 Dictionary. These dictionaries capture the vocabulary of America's formative period and preserve the Revolutionary generation's language of law, citizenship, and governance. Webster's original goal was to complete America's Revolution by establishing an American language, and his dictionaries made the name "Webster" synonymous with "dictionary" as the last major dictionaries compiled by a single person.
Work is performed in Florida with a period of performance through October 31, 2028. The assistance type is a Project Grant.