The IAS Library has compiled a list of online and print dictionaries for languages in geographic areas our library covers, including Africa, East Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe, and Latin American and the Caribbean. We hope that you may find these resources useful for reference or when learning a new language.
For some online dictionaries for languages with non-Roman characters, you may need to install additional language packs on your computer to correctly display the information.
Table of Contents
- African Languages
- East Asian Languages
- South Asian Languages
- Middle Eastern Languages
- Slavic and Eastern European Languages
- Latin American and Caribbean Languages
- Multi-Language Resources
African Languages
Amharic (Ethiopian)
Free Online Dictionaries
- AmharicDictionary.com. Allows searching in English or Amharic (Ge’ez) script. Also includes a phonetic pronunciation in Amharic.
- EthiopianDictionary.com. Allows searching in English or Amharic (Ge’ez) script. Also includes a phonetic pronunciation in Amharic.
Berber
Online Library Resources
- A computerized lexicon of Tamazight, Berber dialect of Ayt Seghrouchen. Ernest T. Abdel-Massih. Hathi Trust E-Resource. UIUC Login required. Catalog record.
Dutch
Print Dictionaries
Located inside the General Reference Collection, for use in the Reference Reading Room on the 2nd floor of the Main Library
- The new Routledge Dutch dictionary : Dutch-English/English-Dutch. N. Osselton and R. Hempelman. Call number: 439.31321 Os71n. Catalog record.
Hausa
Free Online Dictionaries
- Hausa Database: Allows searching by English, German or Hausa.
Print Dictionaries
Located inside the General Reference Collection, for use in the Reference Reading Room on the 2nd floor of the Main Library
- An English-Hausa dictionary. Roxana Ma Newman. Call number 493.72321 N467E. Catalog record.
French
Free Online Dictionaries
Online Library Resources
- Collins French Dictionary Plus. (Credo Reference Collection) UIUC Login Required. Catalog record.
German
Free Online Dictionaries
- LEO German-English Dictionary. Also provides German-French, German-Chinese, German-Spanish, German-Italian, and German-Russian dictionaries.
Swahili
Free Online Dictionaries
- AfricanLanguages.com Swahili-English Dictionary. Allows searching in English or Swahili.
Wolof
Free Online Dictionaries
- Wollof-English Dictionary. A small dictionary prepared by the Peace Corps in PDF format. To search, access the Adobe PDF Search by hitting CTRL+f on your keyboard.
Xhosa
Online Dictionaries
- XhosaDictionary.com. Allows searching by English or Xhosa.
East Asian Languages
Korean
Free Online Dictionaries
- Naver Korean-English Dictionary. Supports searching in Hangul or English. Does not contain Korean pronunciations.
- Korean Multimedia Dictionary. Interactive Flash program that includes pictures and spoken Korean. Limited wordset, but useful for building basic vocabulary.
Print Dictionaries
Located inside the IAS Reference Collection, for use in the IAS Library Reading Room
- New English-Korean dictionary. Kwang Man Kauh, editorial adviser ; Sung Shik Cho, Byung Jo Chung, Pong Shik Kang, general editors. Call number PL937.E5 N4 1984. Catalog record.
Japanese
Free Online Dictionaries
- Denshi Jisho. Allows searching for definitions in Japanese kanji or English, as well as looking up kanji by radical.
Print Dictionaries
Located inside the IAS Reference Collection, for use in the IAS Library Reading Room
- Effective Japanese usage guide : a concise explanation of frequently confused words and phrases = 日本語学習使い分け辞典. Hirose, Masayoshi & Shōji, Kakuko = 編著広瀬正宜, 庄司香久子. Call number PL679 .E32X. Catalog record.
- 日本語大辞典 = The great Japanese dictionary. Umesao, Tadao, et. al. Call number PL685 .N45 1995. Catalog record.
Vietnamese
Free Online Dictionaries
- Vdict.com. Supports searching in Vietnamese, English, Chinese and French.
- Vietnamese Dictionary. Supports English and Vietnamese, includes audio pronunciations.
Print Dictionaries
Located inside the IAS Reference Collection, for use in the IAS Library Reading Room
- Tự-điển tiêu-chuẩn Anh-Việt = Standard pronouncing English-Vietnamese dictionary. Lê Bá Kông. Call number 495.92 L49S1964. Catalog record.
Thai
Free Online Dictionaries
- Thai-Language.com Dictionary. Supports English and Thai. Contains some audio pronunciations and complete phonetic pronunciations.
Hmong
Free Online Dictionaries
- HmongDictionary.com. Supports searching in English and Hmong.
Mandarin (Chinese)
Free Online Dictionaries
- MDBG Chinese-English Dictionary. Allows searching for definitions in English, Pinyin, or Chinese characters, as well as looking up characters by radical or by writing them using your mouse.
Print Dictionaries
Located inside the IAS Reference Collection, for use in the IAS Library Reading Room
- A frequency dictionary of Mandarin Chinese : core vocabulary for learners. Richard Xiao, Paul Rayson and Tony McEnery. Call number 495.1321 X4f. Catalog record.
- Harper-Collins Chinese concise dictionary, Chinese-English, English-Chinese. Marianne Davidson, Julie Kleeman, Sarah Waldram. Call number 495.1 H231. Catalog record.
- 综合汉英习语词典 = a comprehensive Chinese-English dictionary of Chinese idioms. 周宸明, 姚乃強, 严维明编著. Call number PL1273 .T75X. Catalog record.
Cantonese (Chinese)
Free Online Dictionaries
- CantoDict. A community-edited dictionary. Supports searching in English, Chinese characters, Cantonese Jyutping and Mandarin Pinyin.
South Asian Languages
Bengali
Free Online Dictionaries
- Samsad Bengali-English Dictionary. Search in English or Bengali, contains pronunciation guide.
Print Dictionaries
- Progressive Bengali-English dictionary. Nanigopal Aich & Rishi Das. Call number 491.443 P9431997. Located in Main Stacks, circulating. Catalog record.
Gujarati
Free Online Dictionaries
- Gujarati Lexicon. Supports English, Gujarati and Hindi searching. Provides definitions in Gujarati.
Print Dictionaries
Located inside the IAS Reference Collection, for use in the IAS Library Reading Room
- A modern English-Gujarati dictionary. Pandurang Ganesh Deshpande. Call number 491.47321 D459M. Catalog record.
Hindi
Free Online Dictionaries
- Shabdkosh: Hindi-English dictionary, also provides Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu.
- Hindi-English Dictionary. Supports searching in Hindi or English, includes Hindi pronunciation guide.
Print Dictionaries
Located inside the IAS Reference Collection, for use in the IAS Library Reading Room
- The Oxford Hindi-English dictionary. R.S. McGregor, ed. Call number 491.431321 M178o. Catalog record.
Indonesian/Malay
Free Online Dictionaries
- Bahasa Indonesian Dictionary. Provides English and Indonesian searching.
Print Dictionaries
Located inside the General Reference Collection, for use in the Reference Reading Room on the 2nd floor of the Main Library
- A comprehensive Indonesian-English dictionary. Alan M. Stevens and A. Ed. Schmidgall-Tellings. Call number 499.2210321 Sch52c2004. Catalog record.
Javanese
Free Online Dictionaries
- Kamusjawa.info. Supports English, Indonesian, and all three politeness levels of Javanese (Ngoko, Madya and Krama).
Print Dictionaries
Located inside the General Reference Collection, for use in the Reference Reading Room on the 2nd floor of the Main Library
- Javanese-English dictionary. Elinor Clark Horne. Call number 499.222 H78J. Catalog record.
Kannada
Free Online Dictionaries
- Kannada Kasturi. Supports English, Kannada, and Sanskrit.
Print Dictionaries
Located inside the IAS Reference Collection, for use in the IAS Library Reading Room
- Dictionary, Kannada and English = Ḍikṣnarī, Kannaḍa-Ińglīṣ. W. Reeve ; revised, corrected, and enlarged by Daniel Sanderson. Call number 494.814321 R259D1979. Catalog record.
Malayalam
Free Online Dictionaries
- Shabdkosh: Malayalam-English dictionary, also provides Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu.
Marathi
Free Online Dictionaries
- Shabdkosh: Marathi-English dictionary, also provides Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Hindi, Malayalam, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu.
- J.T. Molesworth Marathi-English dictionary. A digital version of a dictionary first printed in 1857.
Print Dictionaries
Located inside the IAS Reference Collection, for use in the IAS Library Reading Room
- A dictionary of Old Marathi. S.G. Tulpule, Anne Feldhaus ; assisted by M.P. Pethe ; lexicographical consultant: Jayashree Gune. Call number: Q. 491.46321 T829d. Catalog record.
Punjabi
Free Online Dictionaries
- Shabdkosh: Punjabi-English dictionary, also provides Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu.
Print Dictionaries
Located inside the IAS Reference Collection, for use in the IAS Library Reading Room
- Punjabi University English-Punjabi dictionary = Pañjābī Yūnīwarasiṭī Aṅgrezī-Pañjābī kosha. Call number: 491.42 P9691994. Catalog record.
Telugu
Free Online Dictionaries
- J.P.L. Gwynn’s Telugu-English Dictionary. Digital version of a dictionary first published in 1991.
- Telugu-English dictionary. Has example Telugu sentences.
Print Dictionaries
Located inside the IAS Reference Collection, for use in the IAS Library Reading Room
- Dictionary, Telugu-English = Nighaṇṭu, Telugu Iṅglīṣ. Charles Philip Brown ; thoroughly rev. and brought up to date by M. Venkata Ratnam, W.H. Campbell, and Rao Bahadur K. Veeresalingam. Call number: 494.8273 B81t1997. Catalog record.
Tamil
Free Online Dictionaries
- Tamilcube. English-Tamil dictionary, also provides themed lists of key Tamil vocabulary.
- J.P. Fabricius’s Tamil-English Dictionary. Digital version of a dictionary first published in 1972.
Urdu
Free Online Dictionaries
- Urduword.com. Provides searching in English, Urdu script, or Romanizaed Urdu. Also has beginning Urdu lessons.
Print Dictionaries
- Oxford English, Urdu dictionary = Auksfarḍ Inglish, Urdū ḍikshnarī. Located in Main Stacks, circulating item. Call number: PK1976 .H36 2003. Catalog record.
Middle Eastern Languages
Arabic
Print Dictionaries
Located inside the IAS Reference Collection, for use in the IAS Library Reading Room
- A dictionary of Egyptian Arabic : Arabic-English. Martin Hinds, El-Said Badawi. Call number PJ6795 .H56 2009 R. Catalog record.
- Arabic-English dictionary. William Thomson Wortabet.Call number PJ6640 .W67 2009 R. Catalog record.
Turkish
Free Online Dictionaries
- TurkishDictionary.net Allows searching in English or Turkish, includes idioms.
Print Dictionaries
Located inside the IAS Reference Collection, for use in the IAS Library Reading Room
- Dictionary of the Turkic languages : English, Azerbaijani, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tatar, Turkish, Turkmen, Uighur, Uzbek. Kurtuluş Öztopçu et al. Call number: 423.943 D5611999. Catalog record.
Persian/Farsi
Free Online Dictionaries
- FarsiDictionary.net Allows searching in English or Farsi, contains phrases.
- Sulayman Hayyim Persian-English Dictionary. Digital version of a dictionary first published in 1934. Contains pronunciations.
Print Dictionaries
Located inside the IAS Reference Collection, for use in the IAS Library Reading Room
- The new unabridged English-Persian dictionary. Abbas Aryanpur (Kashani) et al. Call number: 491.553 AR9N. Catalog record.
- The larger English-Persian dictionary, designed to give the Persian meanings of 80,000 words, idioms, phrases, and proverbs in the English language, as well as the transliteration of difficult Persian words. S. Haïm. Call number: PK6379 .H261959.Catalog record.
Pashto
Free Online Dictionaries
- Qamosona. A combined search for several dictionary databases in English, French, German and others. Contains pronunciations.
- A dictionary of the Puk’hto, Pus’hto, or language of the Afghans. A digital version of a dictionary first published in 1867.
Slavic and Eastern European Languages
Bulgarian
Free Online Dictionaries
- Bulgarian English Dictionary. Search in English or Bulgarian. Interface is in Bulgarian.
Print Dictionaries
Located inside the IAS Reference Collection, for use in the IAS Library Reading Room
- Angliĭsko-bŭlgarski rechnik = English-Bulgarian dictionary. Call number: 491.81 An46b. Catalog record.
Polish
Free Online Dictionaries
- Dict.pl Polish-English-Polish Dictionary, supports searching in both characters, search box allows for easily adding diacritics
Online Library Resources
- Collins English-Polish dictionary. Jacek Fisiak, editor-in-chief. Credo Reference. UIUC Login Required. Catalog record.
Print Dictionaries
Located inside the IAS Reference Collection, for use in the IAS Library Reading Room
- Wielki słownik angielsko-polski = English-Polish dictionary. Jadwiga Linde-Usiekniewicz, chief editor. Call number 491.853 W636. Catalog record.
Russian
Free Online Dictionaries
- RusTran. Search in English or Russian.
Print Dictionaries
Located inside the IAS Reference Collection, for use in the IAS Library Reading Room
- Oxford Russian dictionary. Russian-English, edited by Marcus Wheeler and Boris Unbegaun ; English-Russian, edited by Paul Falla ; revised and updated by Della Thompson. Call number: 491.73 W56o2007. Catalog record.
Serbo-Croatian
Free Online Dictionaries
- Rencik.com. Serbian-English-Serbian dictionary, allows searching in Serbian and English.
Print Dictionaries
Located inside the General Reference Collection, for use in the Reference Reading Room on the 2nd floor of the Main Library
- An English-SerboCroatian dictionary. Morton Benson. Call number 491.8203 B44E1990. Catalog record.
- SerboCroatian-English dictionary. Morton Benson, with the collaboration of Biljana Šljivić-Šimšić. Call number 491.82 B44S1990. Catalog record.
Ukrainian
Print Dictionaries
Located inside the IAS Reference Collection, for use in the IAS Library Reading Room
- Novyi anhlo-ukrains’kyi slovnyk : ponad 160000 sliv ta slovospoluchen’ = Modern English-Ukrainian dictionary over 160000 words and expressions. Mykola Ivanovych Balla. Call number 491.793 B2108n 2008. Catalog record.
Latin American and Caribbean Languages
Portuguese
Free Online Dictionaries
- PortugueseDictionary.com Supports searching in English and Portuguese, contains phonetic pronunciation.
Online Library Resources
- Collins dictionary : English-Portuguese, English Português-Inglês. John Whitlam et al, ed. Credo Reference. UIUC Login Required. Catalog record.
Print Dictionaries
Located inside the General Reference Collection, for use in the Reference Reading Room on the 2nd floor of the Main Library
- The Routledge Portuguese bilingual dictionary : Portuguese-English and English-Portuguese. Maria F. Allen. Call number 469.321 Al541r. Catalog record.
Quechua
Free Online Dictionaries
Spanish
Free Online Dictionaries
- SpanishDict.com Contains audio pronunciations and definitions.
Online Library Resources
- Collins Spanish-English Dictionary. Ed. Jeremy Butterfield et al. Credo Reference. UIUC Login Required. Catalog record.
Multi-Language Resources
Free Online Dictionaries
- LexiLogos. A wide variety of world languages represented.
- Freelang. Dictionaries available for free download (for offline use) or use in a web browser.
Online Library Resources
- Oxford language dictionaries online. Contains English to French, German, Chinese, Spanish, Russian and Italian. UIUC Login Required. Catalog record.