The Century Dictionary Supplement

The Century Dictionary Supplement was published in 1909 as an essential expansion to the original twelve-volume set of The Century Dictionary, an encyclopedic lexicon of the English language. Edited by Benjamin Eli Smith, who had served as a primary managing editor for the original work, the two-volume supplement was designed to incorporate the rapid linguistic shifts and technological developments of the early 20th century, capturing new terminology that had emerged since the dictionary's initial compilation in the late 1880s.

The design of the supplement adhered to the rigorous scholarly standards established by the original project, which sought to combine the functions of a dictionary and an encyclopedia through extensive citations and detailed illustrations. While the original dictionary was praised for its exhaustive coverage of technical and scientific terms, the supplement was recognized by contemporaries as a necessary bridge that maintained the set's status as a preeminent reference work, ensuring that users could navigate the evolving vocabulary of the Edwardian era with the same authority as the preceding volumes.