If I had the time, the money, and/or the technical know-how, I would create a dictionary that lists the current definition of a word, as well all the previous definitions of that word, organized by year, from most recent to most ancient. Wouldn’t it be great too be able to look up a word, and then see how that word’s definition has mutated over time? Haven’t you ever wondered what the word “haberdashery” meant in 1850, but had no easy method of researching it? This would make Justice Scalia’s day!
Realistically, the best way too go about doing this would be to partner with a pre-existing, well established and long-published dictionary. The OED, for example, has been publishing since the 19th Century and would make a perfect source work. You’d type in a word, get their current definition, as well as every definition they’ve published in the last 150 years.
You could even do a fair amount of this work without permission. Works published prior to 1923 in the US are in the public domain and can be freely republished. Someone should start with the OED’s first edition, and digitize every version through 1923. While the OED only goes back to the mid 19th Century, other dictionaries go back even farther, and they could be added to run back as far as English words have been defined (since 1604).
Am I the only person who thinks this would be interesting and useful? Is there already a way to do this that I’m unaware of?