The Year 2000 update of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary is online today at the publishing company_s Website, a few months before word-searchers will be able to buy the print edition in stores.

The Merriam-Webster OnLine site offers the dictionary, along with a companion online thesaurus. To help users get around the problem of searching for words they can_t spell, the dictionary_s search engine can match similar-looking words for misspellings. Visitors who come to the site to look up words or play its online language games generate some 17 million page views a month. The company has also launched a Javascript-powered "dictionary lookup button" for users of Internet Explorer and Netscape Communicator. The button can be attached to browser toolbars for one-click word-hunting any time users are online. Merriam-Webster has been publishing dictionaries since it acquired the rights to Noah Webster_s works in 1843.