In this paper, I describe the origins of the database, presenting how it developed from a tool providing help to dictionary use through constant changes and extensions into a powerful database. Then follows an introduction to the design; the role and structure of synsets, the description of the lexical matrix and its meaning relationships, which are the basis of the organization of information in WordNet and the additional parts like the Grinder, Morphy, ConText, etc. are also described. In the third subsection, some emerging problems in connection to WordNet are highlighted for giving a clear picture before showing the successes of the database in the next chapter. This is the chapter devoted to the fields of application, containing areas that directly and others that indirectly use WordNet as a resource for or a starting point of their research. In the last chapter, a comparison of WordNet to existing printed and on-line dictionaries and thesauri is given, introduced by a brief introduction about how WordNet is different from (and in its own field even more than) dictionaries and thesauri.