Aims & Scopes

The aim of the DLD is to produce for scholars and students an online database comprising a large number of different Latin dictionaries and lexica, so offering tools for:

• understanding Latin texts of various genres, periods, countries or regions;
• analyzing Latin vocabulary at different levels and with different focuses and purposes;
• selecting appropriate terms to conduct studies in the Latin textual databases;
• comparing the dictionaries with one another.

One major feature of the DLD is the links that have been built with the full-text Latin databases (the Library of Latin Texts, the Monumenta Germaniae Historica, the Archive of Celtic-Latin Literature and the Aristoteles Latinus Database). These links enable the user who has conducted a search on a word in a dictionary within the DLD to export this word automatically to its sister-database and thereby identify actual occurrences of the particular word in Latin Literature.

Scientific Responsability

The Database of Latin Dictionaries is produced by the Centre ‘Traditio Litterarum Occidentalium’ (CTLO) under the direction of Prof. Paul Tombeur and Prof. Toon Van Hal. The CTLO continues and develops the former activities in the field of Latin studies carried out by the Cetedoc. The Cetedoc was founded by the Université catholique de Louvain at Louvain-la-Neuve and has been developed jointly with the university.

Language Coverage

The DLD is a multilingual database of Latin dictionaries, containing translations, explanations, and examples in various languages. It currently includes English, French, German, Hungarian, Czech, Spanish, and to a lesser extent Italian, ancient Greek, Hebrew, Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Norman, Old English, Middle French, and others.

Recent Updates

The 2024 update of the DLD includes a pre-print version of the Dictionary of Roman Theatre, composed by Carmen González Vázquez (Turnhout, forthcoming) and an update of the Latinitatis Medii Aevi Lexicon, based on the latest supplements published in the Archivum Latinitatis Medii Aevi (Genève, 2019-2021).

Coverage

• Defining and translating dictionaries

The paragraph discusses the distinction between “defining” dictionaries, which provide semantic and etymological explanations of Latin words in Latin, and “translating” dictionaries, which offer translations and explanations of Latin words in modern languages. It mentions specific examples of both types of dictionaries, such as Forcellini’s Lexicon, Lewis & Short’s Latin Dictionary, and others by A. Blaise and M. Pérez.

Download here the list of Defining and translating dictionaries (PDF, 6 pages)

• Thematic dictionaries

This category  includes dictionaries dealing with Ecclesiastical, Philosophical, Grammatical, Linguistic, Medical and Legal Latin.

Download here the list of Thematic dictionaries (PDF, 3 pages)

• Medieval & Early Modern dictionaries

This category includes works that have been composed during the Middle Ages or the Early Modern period.

Download here the list of Medieval & Early Modern dictionaries (PDF, 1 page)