Dictionary
The Van Dale dictionary is commonly accepted as the most authoritative Dutch dictionary. Commonly named the Dikke Van Dale ("fat Van Dale" due to its size) the dictionary is split into three tomes (A-I, J-R, S-Z) and is usually updated every 7–8 years. The 14th edition was published in 2005.
The Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal is a historic dictionary that includes all words used from 1500 to the present day.
Work began in 1864 and was finished in 1998 when the last volume was published. It has 43 volumes, needing about 3m if placed on a shelf, with about 400,000 words on 49,255 pages. In 2001, three additional volumes where published containing mostly words from the 20th century that were not included in the previous 43 volumes. This dictionary is published by Instituut voor Nederlandse Lexicologie and can be found online.
Read more about this topic: Dutch Language Union
Famous quotes containing the word dictionary:
“If someday I make a dictionary of definitions wanting single words to head them, a cherished entry will be “To abridge, expand, or otherwise alter or cause to be altered for the sake of belated improvement, one’s own writings in translation.””
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“The much vaunted male logic isn’t logical, because they display prejudices—against half the human race—that are considered prejudices according to any dictionary definition.”
—Eva Figes (b. 1932)
“The reputation of a man is like his shadow; it sometimes follows and sometimes precedes him, sometimes longer and sometimes shorter than his natural size.”
—French Proverb. Quoted in Dictionary of Similes, ed. Frank J. Wilstach (1916)