Online Dictionaries

§1. Bilingual (French-English)

Recommended for beginners and intermediate-level students.

• www.wordreference.com has a decent set of online dictionaries. The quality of definitions varies, but the site is fairly popular and definitions are often linked to relevant forum discussions where people suggest the most appropriate translations - particularly for idiomatic expressions. Advertising-supported.

Recommended for students of the upper intermediate and advanced levels.

• Larousse - the online version of the grand-daddy of all French dictionaries, this dictionary is clearly targeted at native speakers. Pronunciation is given as a sound file (Larousse's tradition carries from the paper edition is not to include the pronunciation in IPA symbols). There are links to conjugation tables for verbs, as well as separate tabs for expressions, synonymes, doubts and difficulties (where applicable), etc. This dictionary is advertising-supported.


• Microsoft's Encarta Dico is a very practical unilingual dictionary gives the prononciation, definitions, almost always illustrated by a short phrase putting each of the suggested meanings in context. Advertising-supported.


• A favorite of translators, journalists, and other "language professionals", Le Petit Robert offers several advanced dictionaries as a (paid) online service. Le Robert

The dictionaries and terminological resources mentioned in this section are targeted not so much at students as at professionals - translators, interpreters, journalists, editors, etc.

• Termium Plus is an amazing resource put together by the Government of Canada. It contains a great number of terms (either lexical or terminological units) covering hundreds of specialized domains, from law to engineering to advertising.
  
  One can enter the desired terms in English (once on the site, follow the English entry terms link) or in French (the French entry terms link) to get the equivalent in the other language. Spanish has been added as the third option, but Spanish terminological files are not as complete as French and English ones.
  
  IMPORTANT: Note that French terms suggested by the Termium Plus are following the Canadian French standard. In many fields, there are major terminological differences between the "French" French and the Canadian French.