Law dictionary
From Free net encyclopedia
A law dictionary is a dictionary that is designed and compiled to give information about terms used in the field of law.
A diustinction 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, whereas 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, its 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.
Relevant literature
- Sandro Nielsen: The Bilingual LSP Dictionary. Principles and Practice for Legal Language. Gunter Narr Verlag 1994.
Downloadable Law Dictionaries
- Dean's Law Dictionary - created by artificial intelligence with over 185,000 terms and 300,000 case cites.
Online Law Dictionaries
- LawyerIntl.com Legal Dictionary - Compilation of Law Dictionaries including Bouvier's Legal Dictionary 6th Edition
- The 'Lectric Law Library - the gateway to 1000's of pages of free legal information and free legal forms.