Law dictionary

Law dictionary

A law dictionary is a dictionary that is designed and compiled to give information about terms used in the field of law.

A distinction is made between different types of law dictionaries. A monolingual law dictionary covers one language, a bilingual covers two.

A distinction may also be made as to its coverage. A law dictionary that covers an entire field of law is called a single-field dictionary, where as a dictionary that covers a part of a field of law is called a sub-field dictionary, e.g. a dictionary of contract law. If the law dictionary attempts to cover all the terms in the field of law, it is called a maximizing dictionary, and if it attempts to cover only a limited number of terms, it is called a minimizing dictionary.

A good bilingual law dictionary needs to take the users' expected language and professional competences into account. The lexicographers therefore need to consider the following aspects: dictionary user research, dictionary typology, structure and presentation of the relevant information. When making a law dictionary, the lexicographers attempt to present the information in such a way that the user is not burdened with excessive lexicographic information costs.

Unlike a law dictionary, which arranges and defines legal words and phrases individually and in alphabetical order, a legal terminology textbook arranges and defines legal words and phrases in groups and by topic. As a result, a student or other person interested in understanding an array of related legal words and phrases may prefer to use a legal terminology textbook instead.

External links

Major Law Dictionaries

* Black's Law Dictionary (8th ed.). ISBN 0-314-15199-0.
* Sandro Nielsen: "The Bilingual LSP Dictionary. Principles and Practice for Legal Language". Gunter Narr Verlag 1994.
* [http://deanslawdictionary.com/ Dean's Law Dictionary] - created by artificial intelligence with over 185,000 terms and 300,000 case cites.

Downloadable Law Dictionaries

* [http://deanslawdictionary.com/ Dean's Law Dictionary] - created by artificial intelligence with over 185,000 terms and 300,000 case cites.
* [http://jflashcard.sourceforge.net/lawDictionary/ Poorman's Law Dictionary] - A dictionary for Blackberry, Palm and Symbian Phones.

Online Law Dictionaries

* [http://www.lawdictionaries.com LawDictionaries.com] - Index of free online law dictionaries and other useful tools.
* [http://lawyerintl.com/modules/dictionary/ LawyerIntl.com Legal Dictionary] - Compilation of Law Dictionaries including Bouvier's Legal Dictionary 6th Edition
* [http://www.lectlaw.com/ The 'Lectric Law Library] - the gateway to 1000's of pages of free legal information and free legal forms.
* [http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/dictionary.htm Some links to Legal Dictionaries]
* Bouvier's Law Dictionary, [http://www.constitution.org/bouv/bouvier.htm 6th ed. (1856)]
* [http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/index.php/Category:Definition WEX: Definitions] , An American law glossary, from Cornell
* [http://uscis.gov/graphics/glossary.htm United States Glossary of immigration law terms]
* [http://www.nolo.com/glossary.cfm Everybody's Legal Glossary, Nolo]
* [http://dictionary.law.com Law.com legal dictionary]
* [http://www.legaldictionaries.org Legal Dictionaries] - an online search and definition site for legal terms.
* [http://dictionary.lp.findlaw.com Merriam Webster Law Dictionary] at Findlaw.


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