Links: Dictionaries, Translation & Language Resources

Dictionaries, Glossaries, & Language Resources

General References · World English · International · Glossaries · Translation · Look Up a Word

General References

AskOxford.com: http://www.askoxford.com; A variety of dictionary and language tools.
Encyberpedia: Dictionaries, Glossaries, & Thesauri: http://www.encyberpedia.com/glossary.htm; Links to a wide range of useful dictionaries and glossaries.
TheFreeDictionary.com: http://www.TheFreeDictionary.com; Offers a "dictionary, thesaurus, literature refernece library and search engine all in one." Also offers a script that enables you to include a dictionary search box on your own website.
Merriam-Webster Online: Language Center: http://www.m-w.com; If your dictionary isn't handy, look up words on this site -- and find out when a word first (officially) entered the English language.
One-Look Dictionaries: http://www.onelook.com; Hundreds of links to a wide range of dictionaries and glossaries. Offers "lookup" search function. Probably the best-known dictionary site online.
On-Line Dictionaries and Glossaries: http://www.lai.com/glossaries.html; Links to dictionaries in more than 60 language groups and categories, from Afrikaans to Zulu (and including artificial languages and multilingual dictionaries).
Thesaurus.com: http://thesaurus.reference.com/; Search for synonyms, antonyms, or word categories; look up words, place names, biblical names and zip codes; enjoy daily crosswords and word search puzzles; translate text and web pages.
WordNet 1.6 Vocabulary Helper: http://poets.notredame.ac.jp/cgi-bin/wn; A useful tool that enables you to look up a word (including uncommon words) to find out its definition, usage, and history.
Wordsmyth: The Educational Dictionary/Thesaurus: http://www.wordsmyth.net

English Around the World

American-British/British-American Dictionary: http://www.travelfurther.net/dictionaries/; Translates U.S. terms to British and vice versa.
Australian English Glossary from A to Zed: http://www.uta.fi/FAST/US1/REF/aust-eng.html; Nothing quite matches Australian English for its lively colourful phrases, this site declares. Give it a burl!
American Heritage Book of English Usage: http://www.bartleby.com/64/
Cornerstone's Canadian English Page: http://www.cornerstoneword.com/misc/cdneng/cdneng.htm; Explains the differences between Canadian, British and American English, including spelling, place names, vocabulary and usage.
English Etymology: http://eleaston.com/etymology.html; Links to dictionaries of "English around the world," including Irish English, Caribbean English, English in India -- plus etymologies, the history of English, phrase finders, "the influence of other languages on English," international names, place names, and more.
The Omnificent English Dictionary In Limerick Form: http://www.oedilf.com/db/Lim.php; An effort to define every word in the English language with a limerick; definitely a site by, and for, people with way too much time in their hands.
World Wide Words: http://www.worldwidewords.org/; Devoted to the English language -- its history, quirks, curiosities and evolution. Includes Weird Words, topical words, definitions, usage, phrases, and more.

World Languages

Australian Indigenous Languages: http://www.dnathan.com/VL/austLang.htm; Links to grammars, dictionaries and other resources relating to the non-English languages spoken in Australia (such as Kamilaroi, Ayapathu and Jingulu), plus topics like "Bush Food and Medicine" and more.
Gaelic/Irish Dictionaries: http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/~smacsuib/focloir/
ilovelanguages: http://www.ilovelanguages.com/; Links to a host of international language resources.
On-Line Dictionaries and Glossaries: http://www.lai.com/glossaries.html; Links to dictionaries in more than 60 language groups and categories, from Afrikaans to Zulu (and including artificial languages and multilingual dictionaries).
Pronunciation Guide: http://ibb7.ibb.gov/pronunciations/; Look up not only the meaning and spelling of international words, but how they are pronounced.
Verbix Online Conjugator: http://www.verbix.com/webverbix; Conjugate verbs in a host of languages, modern and ancient (including Old Saxon, Proto-Indo-European, Swahile, and dozens more.)
YourDictionary.com: http://www.yourdictionary.com; Look up words through the search function, or browse articles on translation and language issues, or explore the more than 230 international language dictionaries and glossaries (including multilingual dictionaries and endangered languages).

Specialized Glossaries

Abbreviations.com: http://www.abbreviations.com; Search for acronyms and abbreviations, or browse by category (e.g., computers, science, food, games, international, etc. -- 117 categories in all).
Acronym Finder: http://www.acronymfinder.com; Look up 60,000 acronyms/abbreviations and their meanings.
Acronyma: http://www.acronyma.com/; Billed as "the largest acronymn database on the Web," with over 446,000 entries; use it to look up the meaning of an acronym.
Alternative Dictionaries: http://www.notam02.no/~hcholm/altlang/; Dictionaries of slang, "dirty words," and "foul language."
Antique Words, by C. J. Cherryh: http://www.cherryh.com/www/antique1.htm; A list of words that were commonly used prior to the 1900's; useful if you'd like to avoid anachronistic phrases in your historical fiction.
Biographical Dictionary: http://www.s9.com/biography/index.html; A dictionary covering "more than 20,000 notable men and women who have shaped our world from ancient times to the present day."
Bob's Print Guide Glossary: http://www.bobs.co.uk/print/glossary.html; Glossary of printing and publishing terms.
Castle Terms: http://www.castlesontheweb.com/glossary.html
Cliche Finder: http://www.westegg.com/cliche/; An interesting resource that enables you to search for "clichŽs" by keyword (e.g., a search on "cat" provides such gems as "Busier than a one-eyed cat watching two mouseholes").
Dictionary of Slang: http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/
DOD Dictionary of Military Terms: http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/doddict/
Easton's Bible Dictionary: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/easton/ebd2.toc.html
FAST Glossary Center: http://www.uta.fi/FAST/GC; List of all kinds of glossaries and dictionaries.
Feudal Terms of England: http://langs.eserver.org/feudal-dictionary.txt
Glossarist, The: http://www.glossarist.com/; Links to a huge selection of glossaries on a vast range of topics.
Glossary of Grammatical Terms: http://www.writingenglish.com/glossary.htm
Glossary of Internet Terms: http://www.matisse.net/files/glossary.html
Glossary of Poetic Terms: http://www.poeticbyway.com/glossary.html; An excellent dictionary of poetic terms.
Glossary of Poetic Terms: http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/display_rpo/poetterm.cfm; A fascinating collection of terms, from acatalectic to zeugma.
Hellatine Dictionary of Bureaucratese: http://home.earthlink.net/~skilton/dictionary.html
How Many? A Dictionary of Units of Measurement: http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/
investorwords.com: http://www.investorwords.com; Dictionary of financial and investment terms.
Knighthood, Chivalry & Tournament Glossary of Terms: http://www.chronique.com/Library/Glossaries/glossary-KCT/glssindx.htm
Medi-Lexicon: http://www.pharma-lexicon.com/; "A dictionary of over 140,000 medical, pharmaceutical, biomedical & healthcare acronyms and abbreviations. Plus medical news and searches for the medical, pharmaceutical or healthcare professional."
Netlingo: The Internet Dictionary: http://www.netlingo.com/
The Nonverbal Dictionary of Gestures, Signs and Body Language Cues: http://members.aol.com/nonverbal2/diction1.htm; Subtitled "From Adam's Apple Jump to Zygomatic Smile," this offers a wealth of information on body language.
The Omnificent English Dictionary In Limerick Form: http://www.oedilf.com/db/Lim.php; An effort to define every word in the English language with a limerick; currently up to "ba"! Definitely a site by, and for, people with way too much time in their hands.
Origins of Phrases: http://members.aol.com/MorelandC/Phrases.htm; Origins and meanings of hundreds of common (and uncommon) phrases.
Scientific and Technical Acronyms, Symbols and Abbreviations: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/mrwhome/104554766/HOME
Semantic Rhyming Dictionary: http://www.rhymezone.com/; Look up rhymes by sound, number of syllables, and preferred meaning.
Smith's Bible Dictionary: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/smith_W/bibledict.toc.html
Symbols.com: http://www.symbols.com; "SYMBOLS.com contains more than 2,500 Western signs, arranged into 54 groups according to their graphic characteristics. In 1,600 articles their histories, uses, and meanings are thoroughly discussed. The signs range from ideograms carved in mammoth teeth by Cro-Magnon men, to hobo signs and subway graffiti."
Twists, Slugs and Roscoes: A Glossary of Hardboiled Slang: http://www.miskatonic.org/slang.html; A fun guide to "detective" and police slang, especially of the 20's, 30's and 40's.
WorldWideWeb Acronym and Abbreviation Server: http://silmaril.ie/cgi-bin/uncgi/acronyms; An excellent acronym "look-up" site.

Translation Resources

AltaVista Translation: http://babelfish.altavista.com/translate.dyn; A free online translation tool for words and phrases. (Seems to work well with shorter phrases, but use caution when attempting to use any automatic "tool" to translate longer materials or documents.)
Daily Linguist: Your Personal Language Tutor: http://www.dailylinguist.com; Online language help, corporate training, translation services, free online translator, and language/dictionary links.
Foreignword.com: http://www.foreignword.com/; Dictionary search tools, machine translation links, glossary links, and a translation forum.
Freetranslation.com: http://www.freetranslation.com; Here's a handy site to translate texts into and out of English, from a handful of major languages (including Spanish, French, and German). It isn't perfect, but it is enough to help you make sense of a letter, even if all the words aren't properly translated or translated at all; I wouldn't suggest it for trying to convert your own work to another language.
FreeTranslator.com: http://www.free-translator.com; Offers a variety of free translation interfaces.
Global Translation Services: http://www.gts-translation.com/freetranslation.asp; A free online translation tool that provides translation in a number of language pairs, including English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese and Russian.
Languages-on-the-Web: http://www.languages-on-the-web.com; A wealth of resources to help one learn languages or find publications in different languages, links to international language resources and sites in various languages, and translators.
NCTA Searchable Translator Database: http://www.lai.com/ncta/trdb.htm; If you need translation services to market a piece abroad, you can search this directory by language and specialty.
PEN Directory of Translators: http://www.pen.org/translation/direct.htm; Search for a translator by language.
Pronunciation Guide: http://ibb7.ibb.gov/pronunciations/; Look up not only the meaning and spelling of international words, but how they are pronounced.
Translate-Free.com: http://Translate-Free.com; An extensive list of links to sites that offer free online translations in various languages or lexicons, including sites that enable you to hear the translation.
Translatorsbase.com: http://www.translatorsbase.com; international database of translators available in multiple languages. Listings of translation jobs and translation projects. Free translation services. Tools for translators, translation agencies and translation outsourcers. Free Registration.
Translators Center: http://www.translatorscenter.com/; Links to a variety of translation resources.
Translator's Home Companion: http://www.lai.com/companion.html; "A focal point of information about resources available on the Internet and elsewhere for translators, interpreters, and all those interested in the arts and crafts of foreign languages." Includes news, library catalogs, databases, directories of translators, translation agencies and organizations, dictionaries, localization/globalization information, and more.
WinDi Multilingual Dictionaries: http://www.windi7.com/index_all.php; Free online multidirectional dictionaries in 7 languages (Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish), including complete verb conjugation and grammar.
YoFast Word Translations: http://www.yofast.org/; YoFast provides a comprehensive vocabulary of words, terms and phrases translatable from one language to another. We have endeavored, in our translations, to reflect the most common context, meaning and substance in which each word is used. An interesting resource!

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