family of English-language dictionaries noted for their emphasis on ease of use and current usage.

The first Funk & Wagnalls dictionary was A Standard Dictionary of the English Language (1893). It espoused four policies pertinent to its initial and future publications: the ordering of definitions according to current, rather than historical, usage; the appearance of etymologies at the end of definitions, rather than at the beginning; the use of one alphabetical list for all entries, rather than separate sections for geographical, biographical, mythological, or biblical terms; the use of lowercase initial letters for all entry titles except proper nouns.

Isaac Funk (Funk, Isaac Kauffman), the editor of the Standard, believed strongly in accurate phonetics and simplified spellings whenever possible, a policy to which Funk & Wagnalls still adheres. In addition to the present unabridged New Standard, the company publishes a line of several dictionaries, most of which are based on the Standard Dictionary of the English Language (International Edition), a new work published in 1958. These spinoffs include, among others, the Comprehensive Standard International Dictionary, a reprint of the Standard with encyclopaedic matter added; and the Standard College Dictionary, an abridged version of the Standard. The Standard Encyclopedic Dictionary is a reprint of the latter with the addition of encyclopaedic matter.