foreign languages

At last! A Latin Dictionary with print big enough to read using bifocals!!! The scholarship of this work is unquestioned, as is its comprehensive character. No more looking in vain for some elusive term. Others have commented fully on the substantive wonders of this magnificent dictionary. I write only to add that this work is very accessible--even to those of us with tired old eyes. I know it is costly, but it is well worth the price!

The Oxford Latin Dictionary is a very special dictionary.

Yes, it is expensive.

But I have found no ancient language dicitonary which can compare to it in terms of organization, clarity and fullness of example sentences. This dictionary has a format almost identical to "The Shorter Oxford ENGLISH Dictionary". In other words, it is organized like the very best of modern dictionaries. The meanings given are very good (like in the Shorter Oxford). I almost never refer to my "Lewis and Short" now that I have this -- there is NO comparision.

If you consider yourself a serious student of the language, I strongly suggest you get this dictionary. I refered to it often, even during my first semester of Latin. But if you consider yourself a lover of Latin, you simply MUST do yourself the favor of owning this beautiful work. (Buy it for yourself at Christmas! You deserve it!)

The other dictionary I use and recommend (and which I can carry around) is Cassel's Latin Dictionary.

It may be relevent (in a good or bad way) that I am a true aficionado of dictionaries. I own about 25 dictionaries (most of them english) and use them regularly. Also, I use dictionaries to find the meanings of words I don't know or don't fully know; I don't look in dictionaries "for fun". My favorite english dictionary is The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (That's the "Shorter" two-volume Oxford, not the "Compact" two-volume OED that requires a magnifying glass).

Enjoy!

This is the definitive Latn resource for classic Latin. The book itself has become like the classics it seeks to enlighten. HOwever, Oxford Press can hardly justify the price. $300 is had to swallow for any book, no matter how comprehensive. Oxford press has always offered high quality, hard to find texts, yet not many are at the price this Latin dictionary is. I would implore Oxford to bring the price down so that students and researchers alike could have access to this fine work.