HarperCollins Robert French Unabridged Dictionary, 7th Edition (Harpercollins Unabridged Dictionaries) [Hardcover]

HarperCollins (Author)

Book Description

Series: Harpercollins Unabridged Dictionaries | Publication Date: August 1, 2005

The HarperCollins Robert is simply the best French dictionary you can buy. Here's why:

With more than 820,000 completely revised and updated entries and translations, the HarperCollins Robert offers complete coverage of contemporary terms in business, technology, politics, culture, and medicine. The HarperCollins Robert is the most comprehensive single-volume French-English dictionary available.

• Consistently Updated: The HarperCollins Robert is compiled in conjunction with the leading dictionary publisher in France and updated on a regular basis. The dictionary is highly praised for its accuracy, especially in the notoriously slippery area of French slang.
• More colloquial usage than any other French-English dictionary: The HarperCollins Robert places emphasis on current French and English, extensive cross-referencing, and has an in-depth guide to usage of idioms and phrases.
• More effective guidance: The HarperCollins Robert contains a seventy-six-page "Language in Use" section designed to facilitate self-expression in the foreign language and a comprehensive system of style labels that identifies whether a word is formal, informal, literary, vulgar, dated, or euphemistic.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

HarperCollins Publishers is one of the world's leading English-language publishers with headquarters in New York. The company is part of News America Publishing Group, a division of News Corporation. The house of Mark Twain, the Bronte Sisters, Thackeray, Dickens, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Maurice Sendak, HarperCollins was founded in New York City in 1817 by the brothers James and John Harper. The worldwide book group, which was formed following News Corporation's acquisition of the British publisher William Collins in January 1990, has significant publishing interests in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Australia.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 2142 pages
• Publisher: Collins; 7 edition (August 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060748931
• ISBN-13: 978-0060748937
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 7.5 x 2.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #796,112 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A five star dictionary alone--but not as an upgrade, March 14, 2006

By 

Kevin Arthur Wong "pheriwinkle" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: HarperCollins Robert French Unabridged Dictionary, 7th Edition (Harpercollins Unabridged Dictionaries) (Hardcover)

I think this is the best single-volume, bilingual dictionary available for French and English. However, one word of warning, if you already own the sixth edition of this work, do not think you're getting much in purchasing the seventh. Every section has an identical number of pages. Really, the only updates you're getting (other than corrections) are a few words inserted here and there--not enough to change the total page count of any particular section. For instance, I found the new terms "weblog" and "webmail" (although "blog" was not included) in comparing one page between the sixth and seventh editions. So if you already own the sixth edition, realize that you will get very little more in upgrading to the seventh. For this reason, I'm thinking of returning it. One nice change, however, is that the seventh edition does not have the fairly useless thumb index and has a plain edge.

That being said, in comparison with the Larousse and Harrap's single-volume, bilingual dictionaries, I definitely think this one is the richest in terms of defining real usage. I keep Larousse as a backup and have dispensed with my Harrap's all together.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent work, January 29, 2006

By 

Felicien - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: HarperCollins Robert French Unabridged Dictionary, 7th Edition (Harpercollins Unabridged Dictionaries) (Hardcover)

While it is certainly impossible for a dictionary to be completely up-to-date and 100% comprehensive, this dictionary is very close. It is a great primary dictionary and can almost stand alone without a backup dictionary. No translator should be without it. And the price is phenomenal for the value.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not the Last French Dictionnary You'll Ever Buy, July 16, 2006

By 

Liam Wilshire (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: HarperCollins Robert French Unabridged Dictionary, 7th Edition (Harpercollins Unabridged Dictionaries) (Hardcover)

Although I cannot begrudge this fine dictionary that fifth star, it doesn't come close to reaching the bar set by the word "unabridged" when applied to English dictionaries. As others have noted, this is ideal as a dictionary of first resort. That said, for a dictionary whose cover boasts "Thousands of...Technical...Terms," I still find myself returning to my HARRAP'S NEW COLLEGIATE for such things as botanical names, culinary terms, and the like. What's more, the tiny LAROUSSE DE POCHE is still a much better authority on the French/English cognates. Still, the ROBERT will almost supplant those half-dozen books of French slang you have beaten to death, and it is unparalleled in its organization. You can't beat the price, and if you spend any time reading in French or listening to French, it is easily the best bargain out there. Just don't throw away your other dictionaries.