Customer Reviews

The Pocket Oxford Latin Dictionary

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is, perhaps, not the worst pocket Latin dictionary one could buy, and I confess that I've not looked at them all. But I've yet to come across a worse one. The dictionary *is* portable--it does stress, after all, that it is a "pocket" dictionary--the layout is nicely done, and the price is low. However, the number of entries is very, very low, and I have found many of the definitions to be questionable. For the same price, my Bantam Latin-English dictionary--and the old one, not even the updated, expanded version--provides more entries and, in my opinion, more accurate definitions.

Its handy and useful for beggining basic latin. As a referrence to read the classics it is indeed, insufficient.

I used this to look up the meanings of anatomy terms as I prepare to start medical school this Fall. While studying an anatomy atlas with the dictionary sitting on the atlas the blue ink from this dictionary's cover smeared all over my anatomy book's pages. Otherwise it was useful. I spent three years learning ancient Greek and Latin a few years ago, and if you plan to go beyond the elementary level in Latin I suggest you get the Chambers Murray or the Cassell dictionary. Chambers Murray is actually quite portable, but heavy for its size.

This dictionary is not the most useful dictionary I've seen around. Indeed, it is very limited in scope and contains very few entries. The entries that are in fact included in the dictionary are not particularly helpful. In particular, the definitions are not always accurate, although they are concise.

The format of the entries can be quite confusing; the presentation of verbs being quite the worse I've seen. For instance, the principal parts of the verb retraho is given as 'retraho, xi, ctum, [3]'. It takes considerable guesswork to realise that the 'xi' and 'ctum' stand for 'retraxi' and 'retractum' respectively. In this aspect, it is not particularly helpful to beginners, who cannot be expected to guess the correct form.

Otherwise, the layout of the dictionary is refreshingly well done, partly due to the sparseness of each page. The print is clear and of a good size.

All in all, it is suitable only for the beginner in Latin because of the paucity of entries, and, even so, the presentation of verbs might be confusing. It is certainly nowhere near the level of excellence attained by the big Oxford Latin Dictionary. One point in its favour is it's small size, being quite the smallest I've seen (along with the Collins Gem one) and certainly lives up to it's 'pocket' description, fitting quite easily in one.

I bought this dictionary for my son who is taking Latin I this year. He had complained that the dictionaries that they had at school were very difficult to use since they gave every possible definition or translation. He loves this dictionary! He would highly recommend this dictionary for every beginning latin student.

this latin dictionary has some serious shortcomings. lacking any sort of overview of usage is a real problem. even more serious, some of the definitions are really not quite right. not up to standard of the big OLD, and not as good a pocket dictionary as Chambers Murray

This is a fairly useful Latin Dictionary... I got it, because I thought it would be useful as a student of law and the classics. Though, perhaps its overarching merit is simply its portability. Usefulness and comprehensiveness are sacrificed to the utilitarian value of small size. Jurists (e.g. legal scholars) and Medical professionals might find it lacks too many key Latin terms relevant to their discipline.

I bought this dictionary rather rashly as it was the only one left on the shelf at my campus bookstore. Needless to say I will be returning it as soon as I get an opportunity. Smallness being the only meritorious feature, the very first entry I sought a definition for was, to my amazement, not there; and neither were the other two words I looked up after. I borrowed the HarperCollins Latin Concise Dictionary from the library and it too was rather disappointing though it contains 60,000 more entries than the Pocket OLD.

product was in condition and state mentioned. No issues. Happy with the purchase and money saved.

This book helped me teach myself latin. Now I speak almost fluently!!! I recomend to anybody wanting to teach themselve Latin to read this book!