General Details

Title: Langenscheidt Großwörterbuch Deutsch als Fremdsprache
Volumes: 1
Language: German
Publisher: Langenscheidt
Year: 2003
Pages: 1,254

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The Langenscheidt Großwörterbuch Deutsch als Fremdsprache: Das einsprachige Wörterbuch für alle, die Deutsch lernen (Langenscheidt's Large Dictionary of German as a Foreign Language: The Monolingual Dictionary for Everyone Who is Learning German) is, like its subtitle states, a monolingual dictionary with simplified language meant for someone learning German as a foreign language. German is the only language used within, so it is best used by someone who has already had a semester or two of the language. It features approximately 66,000 entries, 63,000 example sentences and phrases, and numerous notes with regards to grammatical usage, idioms, synonyms, antonyms, regional variants, and compound building. There are also a few illustrations scattered throughout. There are 11 pages at the beginning of the text explaining how to use the dictionary, and a few small appendices in the back, with geographical names and adjectives, numbers, irregular verbs, and an index to the special info boxes sprinkled throughout the text. These info boxes contain grammatical info (ex. "The Past Tense") and cultural topics ("Johann Sebastian Bach", "The Vienna Coffeehouse," etc). This is a fully revised edition; the original appeared in 1993. My copy is fairly beat-up; I used it quite a bit in the mid-2000s.

Sample Entries

I attempt to look up "umbrella" and "Saint Louis" in all of the reference works featured on this site in order to allow easy comparison between them. In general, beyond the major places listed in the appendix for geographical names, cities are not included in this text, so there is no entry on "Saint Louis." In German, there is a general term for umbrella ("Schirm") and then specific words for those that protect against rain ("Regenschirm") and those that protect against the sun ("Sonnenschirm"); I've looked all three of these terms up. "Schirm" is found on page 885:

Schrịm¹ der; -(e)s, -e; 1 e-e Vorrichtung aus e-m großen Stück Stoff, das ŭber e-n mst runden Rahmen gespannt ist, u. e-m Schaft (mit Griff). Sie dient als Schutz vor Regen od. Sonne || K-: Schirm-, -griff, -hülle || -K: Regen-, Sonnen-; Damen-, Herren-; Garten- 2 der Teil der Lampe (mst aus Stoff od. Kunststoff), der über u. seitlich der Glühbirne ist, damit diese nicht blendet || -K: Lampen- 3 e-e Art Schild, das vor sehr hellem Licht od. vor starker Hitze schützt || -K: Augen-, Ofen-, Schutz- 4 der Teil e-r Mütze, der Augen u. Stirn (mst gegen die Sonne) schützt || K-: Schirm-, -mütze

Umbrella¹ [masculine noun]; 1 a contraption made out of a large amount of fabric that is stretched over a mostly round frame and a handle (with a grip). It serves as protection against rain or sun <[3 ways of saying] to open an u., close> || [Compounds starting with Schirm:] umbrella-handle, umbrella-cover || [Compounds ending with Schirm:] rain-umbrella, sun-umbrella, women's-umbrella, men's-umbrella, garden-umbrella 2 the part of the lamp (usually out of fabric or plastic), which is over or to the side of the lightbulb, so that it is not blinding || lamp-shade 3 a short of shield that protects against very bright light or very strong heat || eye-shade, fire-screen, protective-shield 4 the part of a hat that protects the eyes and the forehead (often against the sun) || visor-cap

The entry for "Regenschirm" is found on page 832:

Re·gen·schirm der; ein Schirm¹ (1), den man bei Regen über den Kopf hält || ID mst Ich bin gespannt wie ein R. gespr; ich bin auf etw. sehr neugierig.

Rain Umbrella [masculine noun]; an umbrella¹ that one holds over the head during rain. || Idiom: I'm as taut as an umbrella colloquial; I am very curious about something.

The entry for "Sonnenschirm" is found on page 945:

Son·nen·schrim der; ein großer Schirm, der vor der Sonne schützt

Sun Umbrella [masculine noun]; a large umbrella that protects against the sun