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Glite Dictionary
bilingual dictionary

bilingual dictionary

2.9
A book showing word translations between two languages
  • noun
  • /ˈbaɪlɪŋɡwəl dɪkʃəˌnɛri/
translation icon : diccionario bilingüe
  • Many language learners find a bilingual dictionary helpful for understanding words in both their native language and a new language.

Examples

  • Some students depended on bilingual dictionaries in an attempt to introduce and define new vocabulary.

    Academic text (1996)

  • The following data were gathered, therefore, primarily with the aid of bilingual dictionaries, thesauruses, and books on idioms.

    Academic text (1997)

  • Even more encouraging to me, they began without prompting to bring their bilingual dictionaries and to ask for translations to English, the better to express their thoughts.

    Academic text (2003)

  • She always carries her bilingual dictionary to help her translate conversations while traveling abroad.

  • The bilingual dictionary allowed him to quickly learn the meanings of new words in French and English.

Antonyms

monolingual
1 4.3

A text or speech that uses only one language

How Comprehensive

bilingual dictionary
2.9
phrase book
2 1.8

Surface Forms

bilingual dictionary singular
bilingual dictionaries plural

Morphology

bilingual + dictionary

The meaning is directly compositional: 'bilingual' (using two languages) modifies 'dictionary' (a book of word entries), so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it is a dictionary involving two languages. This construction is cross-linguistically common and follows standard English noun modification patterns, with no idiomatic shift.

Etymology

Bilingual dictionary comes from two parts: bilingual, meaning 'two languages', and dictionary, a book of words. So a bilingual dictionary is a book that shows words in two languages and helps you find translations.