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Free Spanish-English and English-Spanish Online Dictionaries and Translators
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Useful Links for Learning Spanish – Online Dictionaries
and Translators

Languages are not fixed; they are continuously changing. Like human beings, languages are alive, they grow and evolve. What brings change to languages is their context; the social changes that happen around them. That is the reason why dictionaries are never completed; they are always being updated to comply with semantic and grammatical changes.

This list of links covers a wide range of dictionaries of the Spanish language and its varieties. It also focuses on more informal uses, or argot, of Spanish, and on specific terminologies.

English to Spanish dictionaries are included here, so you will find some of these links especially useful if your native language is English. Furthermore, in this list you will find a collection of links that include hundreds of sayings that are a part of the Spanish language. Each country, area, and even community has a special dialect which is almost impossible to understand by those who have learned Spanish as a second language. Colloquialisms are extremely common and here are presented a few dictionaries and glossaries dedicated to the Spanish jargon.

Spanish-Spanish

  • http://www.rae.es/rae.html
    The Real Academia Española site it is not only the most prestigious dictionary of the Spanish language, but also a reference point for everyone who wants to keep up to date for any changes within grammar and semantics.

Mexico

  • http://www.academia.org.mx/
    Academia Mexicana de la Lengua is an associated institution with the RAE (mentioned above) but it specializes in the Mexican variant. It also includes Mexican idioms.
  • http://dem.colmex.mx/
    This dictionary specializes in the variant of Spanish spoken in Mexico. It is extremely useful and well-structured. You can search words by category, region, or by their social use. You can also learn fun facts like in the area of Yucatan, a "caballo ovachón" means a fat horse.

Argentina

  • http://www.elportaldeltango.com/dicciona.htm
    The Argentinean tango owns a peculiar dialect: the Lunfardo. This dictionary will help any tango admirer to understand difficult expressions sung in this famous and passionate music style.
  • http://www.elortiba.org/hablapop.html
    In this site you will not only find the meaning in Spanish of Argentinean expressions but will also be able to read very interesting articles on the history and evolution of this Spanish variety.

Synonyms

Medical Terms

  • http://dicciomed.eusal.es/
    The Salamanca University created this Spanish dictionary of meanings to help its medical students to understand the specialized vocabulary which doctors have to deal with. Very useful to find meanings for medical terms.

Art

Law

Slang

World

  • http://www.diccionariojerga.com/
    This fantastic dictionary has been created and is constantly being updated by Spanish speakers across the whole world. A great global site in which each dialect of the Spanish language is welcomed and appreciated.

Mexico

Peru

Cuba

Cubano-Español

English-Spanish

  • www.wordreference.com
    This site is perfect to find the translation/s of certain words from one language to another. It also offers a forum in which users ask for help, discuss meanings, and give advice on grammar or syntax uses.
  • http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-spanish/
    This great dictionary offers a wide range of meanings and uses. It embraces all Spanish variants from South American to Castillian.

Audio Technology

Nautical terms

By Theme

  • http://iate.europa.eu/iatediff/
    Are you interested in political, industry, geography, or fishing terms? With this amazing dictionary you can choose from a wide range of themes and from there you will find translations in almost any language.

Business

  • http://www.andymiles.com/
    With this fantastic Business English to Spanish Glossary one can easily access thousands of business terms translated into Spanish. This will help you to get more benefits from your professional relations with your Spanish speaking partners.

Medical terms

  • http://www.iqb.es/diccio/diccio1.htm
    Find thousands of medical words in Spanish with their corresponding meanings. If you want to know what a specific word means in English, just click on the little UK flag on the left and you will have the English translation. Very helpful!

Finances

Idioms

Translators

Translators are very useful but they are reliable only to a certain point. The limitations of software programs are that they tend to translate word for word, disregarding grammar and context. Because of this, be careful when translating idioms, proverbs, and expressions. However, they can prove very useful with repetitive texts, especially technical ones.

  • http://translate.google.es/#
    This is the most famous translator online. Just write your text in the box and you will have it translated into hundreds of languages to choose. If you don't agree with the translation, GT accepts suggestions by users.
  • http://www.elmundo.es/traductor/
  • http://servicios.elpais.com/traductor/
    These free online translators belong to well-known Spanish newspapers "El Mundo" and "El País" respectively.  Both offer translations from Spanish to languages that include English, French, or German (and vice versa). Within their limitations as computer-based translators, they are quite reliable.
  • http://traductor.babylon.com/ingles/a-espanol/
    This is one of the most popular free translators, offering around 30 pair of languages translation. You can also download its software for free to have a helpful translating tool installed in your computer.

Do you know of a resource that should be
added to this list? E-mail us and let us know!

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