Worcester, Joseph E(merson) (1784–1865)

US lexicographer. His most important work is the Dictionary of the English Language (1860), which reflects traditional British style in contrast to Noah Webster's recognition of US vocabulary, spelling, and usage.

Born in Bedford, New Hampshire, he worked on the family farm until he entered Phillips Academy at age 21, and then received a BA from Yale College in 1811. While teaching school he began the compilation of several gazetteers and textbooks in geography and history. In 1828 he published a revision of Samuel Johnson's famous Dictionary of the English Language and the next year, under the direction of Webster's son-in-law, Chauncey Goodrich, he edited an abridged version of Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language. He published his own Comprehensive Pronouncing and Explanatory Dictionary of the English Language (1830), against which Webster levelled a charge of plagiarism, thus beginning an acrimonious rivalry known as the ‘dictionary wars’.