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Dord: the dictionary word created by an error

Flip through the 1934 second edition of Webster's New International Dictionary, and you will find the word dord, confidently defined as a synonym for density in physics and chemistry. No scientist had ever used the word: an editor's card meant to read 'D or d, cont./density' had been misread at the printer with the spaces removed, creating a famous 'ghost word.'

3–7 min

Questions you could explore

  • How did the original note become a supposed word?
  • What counts as evidence of use beyond a dictionary entry?

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5–7 min

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