People believe that every word has its correct meaning(s). When we are not sure, we usually check online, or turn to our teachers or dictionaries. But do you know how dictionaries were made in the past?
人们相信每个单词都有其正确的含义。当我们不确定时，我们通常会上网查找，或者求助于我们的老师或字典。但是你知道过去字典是怎么制作的吗？
Dictionary writers first read the important books of the period or the subject that the dictionary was about. As they read, they copied necessary information on cards: interesting words, common words—both in their daily uses and unusual uses, and also the sentences where they were used. That is to say, the words, along with the uses of each word, were collected. For a really big dictionary, millions of such cards were collected. This task could last for years. As the cards were collected, they were put in alphabetical order (A—Z). When this was done, there would be several hundred cards for each single word.
词典编纂者首先阅读那个时期的重要书籍或词典所涉及的主题。当他们阅读时，他们会在卡片上复制必要的信息：有趣的单词、常见单词——无论是日常用法还是罕见用法，以及使用它们的句子。也就是说，这些单词以及每个单词的用法都是收集的。对于一本真正的大词典来说，收集了数百万张这样的卡片。这项任务可能会持续数年。当卡片被收集时，它们按字母顺序排列（A-Z）。完成后，每个单词都会有几百张卡片。
Then, to define a word, the dictionary writer placed its hundreds of cards before him. He read the cards closely, threw away some, read the rest again, and divided up the cards according to what he thought were the common uses of the word. Finally, he wrote the definitions, following the hard-and-fast rule: each definition must come from an example on a certain card in front of him.
然后，为了定义一个单词，词典编纂者把数百张卡片放在他面前。仔细阅读卡片，扔掉一些，又读一遍，然后根据他认为这个词的常见用法把卡片分开。最后，他按照严格的规则写下了定义：每个定义都必须来自他面前某张卡片上的一个例子。
So, the writing of a dictionary was not a task of inventing meanings of words, but a task of recording their meanings. The writer of a dictionary was a historian, not a law maker.
因此，编纂词典的任务不是发明单词的含义，而是记录它们的含义。词典的作者是历史学家，而不是法律制定者。
As time develops the way of producing dictionaries has greatly changed. Nowadays, we can use online dictionaries too. When choosing our words in speaking or writing, we can be guided by the dictionary. However, we cannot be controlled by it, because new situations, new experiences, new inventions, and new feelings, are always pushing us to give new uses to old words.
随着时间的推移，词典的编纂方式发生了很大的变化。如今，我们也可以使用在线词典。在口语或写作中选择单词时，我们可以参考词典。然而，我们不能被它所控制，因为新的情况、新的经历、新的发明和新的感觉总是在推动我们对旧词进行新的使用。
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