An Online German Dictionary –
Three Cheers for the Internet!
It’s easy to find an online German dictionary – the internet abounds with them!
If you don’t find the answer to your translation query using the
LEO German English
online dictionary (my personal favourite), then try one of these.
Don't forget to bookmark this page and keep all these free online German dictionaries at your fingertips!
Which ones are best? Each has strengthens and weaknesses, depending upon the nature of their contributors and the sources used for their entries. This is my list of the free online dictionaries I think are worth using in my - purely personal - order of preference:
1. Beolingus
This is an online dictionary project run by the Chemnitz University of Technology since 1995. Beolingus currently offers over 381,000 word translations for the language pair German English.
Try Beolingus here:
Great features include the 30,000 German English sample sentences provided by the Goethe Institute (click on “De-En sample sentences” at the bottom of the page of translations brought up for your word search) giving examples of how this word is used in a variety of sentences.
There are also word lists for special topics, 37,000 German synonyms (OpenThesaurus project) as well as quotes and aphorisms (Linux fortune).
I also really like the automatic conversion tables for physical units (Tool bar: conversion) – really useful, even for non-translation activities such as converting American gallons into British pints!
Beolingus also offers the language pairs German Portugese and German Polish, and is funded by donations.
2. Dict.cc
The Dict.cc online German dictionary uses as its source Beolingus vocabulary plus Mr Honey’s Business English Dictionary and user input, and boasts a total of 600,000 entries.
Dict.cc aims to become a platform for users worldwide to swop their translation knowledge – anyone can submit translation suggestions and check, correct and approve submissions made by others.
Dict.cc also offers a users’ forum for submitting translation queries, plus vocab lists submitted by users which you can call up – useful if you need to focus on a particular subject, e.g. chemistry. Unfortunately the user interface for the forum and vocab lists is only in German.
3. QuickDic.de
QuickDic.de
is an free dictionary offering over 285,000 words and idioms in each of the two languages English and German. Amongst others, its uses Mr Honey’s Business English Dictionary as a source (if you’ve read this far you’ll understand that there are a limited number of sources from which each online German dictionary can draw!)QuickDic also allows (and encourages) you to download its translation databank to your computer free of charge, providing you with your own electronic dictionary. You’ll need Microsoft Windows 2000/XP/Vista plus 20MB of uncompressed hard drive space.
4. Odge.info
The free dictionary odge.info
is a German English dictionary with 210,000 German words and their translations. The German version of the site also offers a users forum for discussion about particular German English and English German translations, as well as translation in general. The forum entry discussions are often in a mixture of English and German – good for seeing samples of “real” German!
5. PONSline
PONSline
is a free online German dictionary run by PONS, a well-known German publisher of dictionaries and language learning materials. The online dictionary is naturally a lead-in, encouraging you to buy their offline products.
6. FreeDic.net
FreeDic.net
has 350,000 word entries for the language pair German English. German entries are supported by canoonet German dictionaries and grammar, powered by canoo, and English words by the Merriam-Webster online dictionary. This is a more obviously commercial site than Beolingus or Dict.cc, for example.
| TIP!: If you need to translate a whole chunk of text - rather than just a word or two – to get a better idea of its meaning, then you’ll probably be best served by a
free online translator
, such as Google Translate or the Babel Fish translator to get a broad idea of the meaning. |
In the meantime, happy translating with your chosen online German dictionary!
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