The Oxford Spanish Dictionary: Second edition revised with supplements [Hardcover]

Beatriz Galimberti Jarman (Editor), Roy Russell (Editor), Carol Styles Carvajal (Editor), Jane Horwood (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0198603673 | ISBN-13: 978-0198603672 | Publication Date: July 19, 2001 | Edition: 2nd Rev

Compiled by an expert team of Spanish and English lexicographers, The Oxford Spanish Dictionary is the result of ten years research, which drew on a unique database of English and Spanish to create a dictionary that is second to none--authentic, contemporary, and lively.
New to this edition is a guide to life and culture in the Spanish- and English-speaking worlds. This guide covers a wide range of topics: from the political and educational systems to key events in the calendar and how they are celebrated. In addition, an expanded guide to effective communication provides wide-ranging advice and a wealth of model letters, covering everything from job applications and CVs to booking hotel rooms. Of course, the Dictionary's superb features remain intact. It boasts more than 275,000 words and phrases and more than 450,000 translations that provide the most comprehensive and up-to-date coverage of the general, scientific, literary, and technical vocabulary of contemporary Spanish and English. There is extra help on grammar, with large boxed notes within the A-Z dictionary that provide extended treatment of complex grammatical constructions, plus smaller in-text boxes that offer additional help on particular words and their correct usage. Subject boxes give immediate guidance on vocabulary in areas such as colors, time, day, dates and months, and sports.
The Oxford Spanish Dictionary covers more than 24 varieties of Spanish as it is written and spoken throughout the Spanish speaking world--the widest ranging coverage available. It is an essential resource for students, scholars, and travelers.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Just as certain innocuous American expressions, like "fanny pack," should never be used in London, certain Spanish words, like "coger," are perfectly acceptable in Madrid and perfectly vulgar in Buenos Aires. So when picking a Spanish-English dictionary, it's important to choose one that clearly indentifies variations in regional usage. The three titles reviewed here all have a comprehensive, unabridged range of entries, which include cross-referencing and phonetic spellings and definitions that range in length from three lines to two pages. They all provide a thorough summary of Spanish and English grammar, with tables of irregular verbs. Most importantly, they all handle issues of usage with clarity and sensitivity. Of the trio, the Larousse is the best known. It's certainly the most exhaustive reference on idiomatic and technical expressions. The Larousse consistently distinguishes between Latin American and Peninsular usage, though its definitions do lean towards Spain and Britain. Its translation of ch?vere, for example, as "brilliant" might lead some American readers to believe the word connotes a degree of intelligence, when, in fact, its meaning is closer to "super" or "fantastic." In a particularly notable gaffe, the Larousse's entry on ba?o doesn't contain the word "bathroom" though that's how the word is used most often in Latin America because in Spain the term for "restrooms" is los servicios. The Oxford does a better job of distinguishing between British and American diction (its entry on ba?o goes so far as to outline the distinctions among "bathroom," "lavatory," "loo," and "washroom"), and its explanations of the language variations within Latin America are more specific than the Larousse's. Guagua, it lets you know, is an informal word for "baby" in the Andes region and a slang term for "bus" in Cuba and the Canary Islands. (The Larousse groups both these meanings under the more general heading "American usage.") The Oxford also contains useful boxes that cluster words by topic (colors, the human body, etc.), as well as a glossary explaining cultural terms that don't have simple translations, such as "Mason-Dixon Line" and sobremesa (the time spent drinking and talking around a table after a meal is finished). Like the Oxford, the Harper Collins dictionary contains notes on cultural topics, and it also provides country-specific guidelines for usage in Latin America. Though its layout is the least elegant of the three, the Harper Collins provides the strongest coverage of Latin American slang. For example, it's the only dictionary we reviewed that gave all the various meanings of perico, a curious word that, depending on the context and location, can mean parakeet, toupee, cocaine, milky coffee, or scrambled eggs with fried onions. Such impressive thoroughness has made the Harper Collins dictionary a favorite among academics specializing in Latin American studies. The Harper Collins dictionary also goes a step further than grammar review with its "Language in Use" section, which presents a painstaking introduction to business writing style in both English and Spanish. This section, which helps readers find equivalents for such hard-to-translate expressions as Me he enterado con gran tristeza de la muerte de tu..." for "I was very sad to learn of the death of...," teaches users how to phrase a job application letter, how to pronounce an e-mail address, and how to draft an official apology, among other business necessities. A good Spanish-English dictionary should help readers navigate complex regional differences. All these dictionaries do this quite well, but the Harper Collins should be the first choice among libraries. Larger libraries would do well to offset the Harper Collins's deficiencies in Cervantes-style Spanish by purchasing a copy of the Larousse as well, and those seriously interested in linguistic variations may want to add the Oxford, which does the best job charting the differences between British and American English. Marcela Valdis, "Criticas".
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Beatriz Galimberti Jarman, Roy Russell, Carol Styles Carvajal, and Jane Horwood are expert bilingual lexicographers who have led a team of Spanish, Latin American, British, and American editors throughout this project.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1872 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 2nd Rev edition (July 19, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198603673
• ISBN-13: 978-0198603672
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8 x 3.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,287,493 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superior to other Spanish/English dictionaries, May 30, 2001

By 

James F Balentine (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Oxford Spanish Dictionary: Second edition revised with supplements (Hardcover)

I have several unabridged Spanish/English dictionaries, but this is the only one I still use. It has several features that make it superior. It has extensive examples of each word used in various contexts that really help to show how the word is used, including idioms. When a word has several meanings in Spanish, Spanish equivalents are given at the beginning of each definition that further refine the scope of meaning with relation to the English equivalents. If a word in Spanish can be translated using various English words, depending on what is being talked about, the subjects or objects are included in parentheses before the English translation. (This is one of the best features!) Coming from England, it has a slight continental/peninsular bias, but the editors make every effort to balance Old World usage with New World usage. This is by far the best Spanish/English dictionary available, and the only one you will ever need. It is excellent for the spoken language and modern literature, but for the classics, I would recommend a large Spanish/Spanish dictionary, such as the large "Vox diccionario actual de la lengua espanola" by Christopher Naylor.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Serious about Spanish? Don't forget these books..., February 5, 2003

By 

Richard Peterson (Summerville, SC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Oxford Spanish Dictionary: Second edition revised with supplements (Hardcover)

Very, very good. I am bilingual, and I use this dictionary frequently. It is helpful that all of the reference information in the Spanish-English side is in Spanish, even if the same info appears in the English section (for instance, the section on "telephone language" in the English side appears as "telefonear" in the Spanish side. This just illustrates the completeness of this book.

If you are studying Spanish, I recommend that you purchase 3 books in addition to your curriculum: The Oxford Spanish Dictionary; A New Reference Grammar of Modern Spanish; and 501 Spanish Verbs, if you need that last one. The Oxford Spanish Dictionary is simply the definitive Spanish-English dictionary. The New Reference Grammar is invaluable for its completeness and incredible ease of use. The 501 Spanish Verbs can be helpful if you find yourself remembering things like "errar is irregular," but you just can't remember how.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice one, but there should be something better, April 2, 2002

By 

Justo S. - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Oxford Spanish Dictionary: Second edition revised with supplements (Hardcover)

I have found in this dictionary almost every word or phrase I have looked for. But in many cases I haven't found the right example or the word's exact sense I was looking for.

As for the merits, the dictionary has both British and American usages, a useful section on letters in English and Spanish, examples of phrases, idioms and the like, and maybe a few more.

For students and teachers of Spanish or English, maybe till finishing intermediate level, it could be very helpful, but for advanced or more specific matters, let's look something else.

For Spanish readers.

Este es un buen diccionario en términos generales. Tiene una sección muy útil de cartas en inglés y español, así como una buena cantidad de ejemplos, tanto de inglés británico como americano.

Sin embargo, muchas veces no proporciona el ejemplo correcto o la acepción exacta de una palabra.

Lo recomiendo para estudiantes y profesores de inglés o español hasta terminar un nivel intermedio. Para asuntos más avanzados o específicos, otro diccionario podría ser mejor.