Introduction
Big news that will make writing and speaking Latin a whole lot easier!
The English-Latin dictionary of Smith & Hall, originally published in 1871 under the title A Copious and Critical English-Latin Dictionary, is widely regarded as the best and most extensive lexicon for translating from English into Latin ever written.
The days of lugging around this 4 pound dictionary are over:
Smith & Hall’s English-Latin dictionary is now, thanks to the effort of my dear and learned friend Johan Winge, for the first time, available online in a fully digitised and searchable version, exclusively on Latinitium!
Features
This is no small dictionary: it contains almost 29000 headwords. But that’s not all. In this digital edition of ours, there is a special feature, that we hope you will enjoy:
As you use the dictionary you will be able to click on any Latin word and be redirected to the corresponding article in Lewis & Short. This way you can cross-reference and double check without the hassle of flipping through massive dictionaries.
But wait! There is more! Just like the Latin words are linked to Lewis & short, most of the references are linked to the original text in the Perseus Digital Library. (This feature is still a work in progress.)
About the dictionary and its greatness
What primarily sets this dictionary apart from other English-Latin dictionaries of the same magnitude (notably A Copious and Critical English-Latin Lexicon by Riddle & Arnold, 1864) is the fact that Smith & Hall spent considerable effort on going back to the classical texts and reevaluating the meaning of the Latin words and phrases in their original context.
The proposed Latin translations are supported by references to the sources, and commonly illustrated with quotations, both in English translation and in the original Latin.
What to keep in mind
One small thing to keep in mind while using the dictionary is that the original dictionary is over a century old which means that sometimes you might not find the English word you are looking for, or the meaning of it may have changed. “Think old”.
You can find the dictionary here:
