Latin-English Dictionary

I was looking for a comprehensive low-cost Latin-English dictionary to help me to decipher Latin inscriptions that I sometimes come across when cataloguing medals. What's available on the internet just doesn't do it. This dictionary runs to more than 800 pages but is paperback size (though pretty thick) and a really good price. The only reason not to give it 5 stars is that it is a reprint from an old and not terribly clear - but still prefectly legible - font. I'm very pleased with the book - it does the job very well.

Comprehensive and thorough - an excellent reference (15/15 people found this helpful)

The Chambers-Murray "Latin-English Dictionary" by Smith and Lockwood is an invaluable resource. First published in 1933, it remains the standard reference for advanced (particularly A-level and above) students of the Latin language.

With definitions for over 25,000 Latin words, it is certainly comprehensive and should be sufficient for most applications. Most definitions are supported by quotations from specific Latin writers such as Caesar, Cicero or Ovid, and where the meaning of a word has altered with time, the different meanings have been ordered to clearly show this. Following the main section (some 817 pages), there are also several appendices, explaining the calendar, the systems of weights and measures, and of currency used by the Romans, and how they relate to modern values - always useful for putting these things in context when they crop up in translation. Unlike some dictionaries, however, this book does not provide a grammar guide.

Most of the sources for this dictionary date from the approximate period 200 BC to AD 200 (with a few outliers), making this an ideal reference for translating most classical texts. However, for tackling later and medieval works, it may be useful to have in addition to this dictionary the "Revised Medieval Latin Word List" by R.E. Latham and perhaps Keith Sidwell's "Reading Medieval Latin". It should also be noted that this book is purely a Latin to English dictionary, and so those who want at some stage to compose their own Latin might prefer to choose a different option, such as "Cassell's Latin Dictionary" by D.P. Simpson.

All in all, the Chambers-Murray "Latin-English Dictionary" is a terrific reference and highly useful for the student of Latin.

Latin-English Dictionary

Chambers

Reader Reviews:

Good value comprehensive Latin-English dictionary (1/1 people found this helpful)

Comprehensive and thorough - an excellent reference (15/15 people found this helpful)

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