This list includes notable historic, standardized and common-use dictionaries of the German language. The beginnings of German dictionaries date back to a series of glossaries from the 8th century CE.
The first comprehensive German dictionary, the Deutsches Wörterbuch (DWB), was begun by the Brothers Grimm in 1838. The Duden dictionary, begun in 1880 and now in its 25th edition, is currently the prescriptive source for the spelling of Standard German. The official dictionary for Austrian Standard German, the Österreichisches Wörterbuch (ÖWB), is published by the Austrian Federal Government.
The list contains the (more or less) "recent", regional and multi-volume dictionaries that have been compiled using "scholarly" principles.
The High German languages, or simply High German – not to be confused with Standard High German which is commonly also called "High German" – comprise the varieties of German spoken south of the Benrath and Uerdingen isoglosses in central and southern Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and eastern Belgium, as well as in neighbouring portions of France, Italy, the Czech Republic (Bohemia), and Poland. They are also spoken in diasporas in Romania, Russia, Canada, the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, and Namibia.
Standard High German (SHG), less precisely Standard German or High German, is the umbrella term for the standardized varieties of the German language, which are used in formal contexts and for communication between different dialect areas. German is a pluricentric Dachsprache with currently three codified specific national varieties: German Standard German, Austrian Standard German and Swiss Standard German.
Schnapps or schnaps is a type of alcoholic beverage that may take several forms, including distilled fruit brandies, herbal liqueurs, infusions, and "flavored liqueurs" made by adding fruit syrups, spices, or artificial flavorings to neutral grain spirits.
East Low German is a group of Low German dialects spoken in north-eastern Germany as well as by minorities in northern Poland. Together with West Low German dialects, it forms a dialect continuum of the Low German language. Before 1945, the dialect was spoken along the entire then-German-settled Baltic Coast from Mecklenburg, through Pomerania, West Prussia into certain villages of the East Prussian Klaipėda Region.
Lexicographic information cost is a concept within the field of lexicography. The term refers to the difficulties and inconveniences that the user of a dictionary believes or feels are associated with consulting a particular dictionary or dictionary article. For example, the extensive use of abbreviations in articles in order to save space may annoy the user, because it is often difficult to read such condensed texts and understand the abbreviations, thereby increasing the lexicographic information costs.
The Duden is a dictionary of the Standard High German language, first published by Konrad Duden in 1880, and later by Bibliographisches Institut GmbH. The Duden is updated regularly with new editions appearing every four or five years. As of December 2020, it is in its 28th edition. It is printed as twelve volumes, with each volume covering different aspects of the German language such as loanwords, etymology, pronunciation, synonyms, etc.
The Deutsches Wörterbuch, abbreviated DWB, is the largest and most comprehensive dictionary of the German language in existence. Encompassing modern High German vocabulary in use since 1450, it also includes loanwords adopted from other languages into German. Entries cover the etymology, meanings, attested forms, synonyms, usage peculiarities, and regional differences of words found throughout the German speaking world. The dictionary's historical linguistics approach, illuminated by examples from primary source documents, makes it to German what the Oxford English Dictionary is to English. The first completed DWB lists over 330,000 headwords in 67,000 print columns spanning 32 volumes.
Daniel Sanders was a German lexicographer of Jewish parentage. He is famous for lexicons and dictionaries.
Konrad Alexander Friedrich Duden was a Gymnasium teacher who became a philologist. He founded the well-known German language dictionary bearing his name Duden.
Karl Wilhelm Ludwig Heyse was a German philologist, son of Johann Christian August Heyse, father of the novelist Paul Johann Ludwig von Heyse, born at Oldenburg.
Rudolf von Raumer was a German philologist and linguist, known for his extensive research of the German language. He was the son of geologist Karl Georg von Raumer.
Swiss Standard German, or Swiss High German, referred to by the Swiss as Schriftdeutsch, or German: Hochdeutsch, is the written form of one of four official languages in Switzerland, besides French, Italian, and Romansh. It is a variety of Standard German, used in the German-speaking part of Switzerland and in Liechtenstein. It is mainly written, and rather less often spoken.
Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod is a series of books by Bastian Sick which deal in an entertaining manner with unappealing or clumsy use of the German language, as well as areas of contention in grammar, orthography, and punctuation.
The Österreichisches Wörterbuch, abbreviated ÖWB, is the official spelling dictionary of Standard German in Austria, i.e. of Austrian Standard German. It is edited by a group of linguists under the authority of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture and contains a number of terms unique to Austrian German or that are more frequently used or differently pronounced there. A considerable amount of this "Austrian" vocabulary is also common in Southern Germany, especially Bavaria, and some of it is used in Switzerland as well. The most recent edition is the 43rd from 2017. Since the 39th edition from 2001 the orthography of the ÖWB was adjusted to the German spelling reform of 1996.
A reverse dictionary is a dictionary alphabetized by the reversal of each entry:
Ahoy is a signal word used to call to a ship or boat. It is derived from the Middle English cry, 'Hoy!'. The word fell out of use at one time, but was revived when sailing became a popular sport. 'Ahoy' can also be used as a greeting, a warning, or a farewell.
Schweizerisches Idiotikon is an ongoing, major project of lexicography of the Swiss German dialects. Publication began in 1881 and is projected to be complete by 2022. Its scope includes the language since the end of the classical Middle High German period and as such also represents the historical dictionary of the dialects of German-speaking Switzerland, and is one of the most detailed treatments of the Early Modern High German language in general. As of 2010, it contains 150,000 words.
The Deutsches Rechtswörterbuch (DRW) or Dictionary of Historical German Legal Terms is a historic legal dictionary developed under the aegis of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. The research unit took up work in 1897 and until today has completed 93,155 articles, ranging from Aachenfahrt to selbzwölft. These have been published in 12 consecutive volumes and are also freely accessible online. In course of its research, the DRW also touches upon sources in Old English, of Hanseatic provenance and Pennsylvania German. The research unit will presumably conclude its work in 2036.
Helmut Glück is a German linguist.
Wolfgang Pfeifer was a German scholar and linguist.