Webster's 1828 Dictionary
Look up any word in Noah Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language (1828) — the exact, verbatim founding-era definition. Over 60,000 words as the Founders' generation understood them. Public domain; no AI, no interpretation.
Popular founding-era words
About Webster's 1828 Dictionary
What is it?
Noah Webster's An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828) was the first comprehensive American dictionary — over 60,000 words with their etymologies and their meanings as understood at the time of the American founding. It is in the public domain.
Why do the 1828 meanings matter?
Word meanings drift. To read the Constitution, the Declaration, and other founding-era writing in the sense the authors intended, you need the meaning a word carried then — which is exactly what Webster recorded in 1828.
How is this different from a modern dictionary?
It gives the founding-era meaning, often with biblical and classical usage and fuller etymology. Profoundd returns each entry verbatim — no rewriting, no AI interpretation.
Is it free?
Yes — public domain and free to search. A machine-readable API is at /api/define?q=word.