Cassell's Concise Latin-English, English-Latin Dictionary

This is a good little Latin dictionary. It contains a variety of words used over the years, mostly focusing on classical Latin but including some from the ecclesiastical period. You can't expect to have every Latin word in here, because it's a very small format. The small format is very convenient, and the binding is good - I have used mine a great deal and the binding has held up very well.I especially like the way they deal with variant forms of words, especially participles. They often list the participial forms of verbs separately (but under the same root verb heading, prefixed by the word "Hence"). Latin participles, of course, are very easily determined from the verbs, so it's not absolutely necessary; but the way they did it is tremendously helpful in two ways:1. Sometimes the participle has a slightly different meaning or emphasis from the original verb. This allows them to separately distinguish the senses of the participle from the senses of the basic verb;2. It is a tremendous boon to memorizing vocabulary. Very often, an English word has been taken almost letter-for-letter from the participle, while the original verb has not come across into English. (Example: the verb "ago" doesn't come across in English, but the participial form "agens/agent" does.) Relating the verb to the English is a great help in memorizing vocabulary.My only real problem with this dictionary has to do with the size and printing. At this size, it is very difficult to distinguish the marks they use for long vs. short vowels. It would have been better to never mark short vowels, so you know that if it doesn't have a long vowel mark it's short. Sometimes you're left puzzling over whether a given vowel is long or short, not a good feature to have in a dictionary.Other than this, it's an excellent book, and an excellent value.

Barely readable, Very poor print quality. I didn’t even attempt to make use of it. Returned for a refund.

This is a good concise Latin-Englsih dictionary.

Truly deficient.Every other word in any Latin sentence is not included.Pronunciation guide is utterly useless.Can't wait for winter. Firewood!Ron DiGiovanniEaston, PA

I am very pleased with my book purchase. Thanks.

This is way to small to be able to read comfortably. Better go with the hard backed book. The book itself is great, it's just the size of the type.

Required for my son’s AP Latin classes in high school

The study of all most all Romance Languages should begin with Latin. It also is a kind of "reverse engineering" in that how words are structured in syllables and then easier to spell and pronounce! This also leads to a quicker understanding of how to speak and spell some other languages that do not have a Latin Origin. The original meaning of Latin words can be seen in many of the present day languages. However, a word in English should not be assumed to be the same in Latin or another Romance language. An example of this would be the English word of "shame" which in Castellano or spanish is verguenza , The word for being Pregnant in Spanish is "embarazada" so you must be careful trying to make this word into a Spanish word, especially since it had not the same meaning in Spanish as in English. "Verguenza is also tricky as it can imply that a person may not be without Honor such as in " Es Usted sin verguenza" Or are you without honor". Again, risky question to ask!

it was not apparent when I ordered this, that it was a concise pocket dictionary. As such it is missing a lot of detail and indeed entries, that one actually would find in a large, proper dictionary. If this had been clear there is no way I would have bought this, as I now have had to purchase a larger one to use in my university assessments and exams as this is not allowed due to its limiting size. So yes, its ok for classroom work etc, but disappointing in all other respects. It needs to be clear that it is NOT the dictionary required by Latin courses for an MA at university, and is only a travel size.

Perfect for my Latin course although the print is a bit small, but younger eyes probably wouldn't notice. Very good value for money

I have several latin dictionaries - on my shelf and find it is an effort to go and fetch one when I need it. This dictionary is a paperback weighs nothing and can always be there to hand. So if you need to look up a latin word every now and again, I can thoroughly recommend it.

Very good came on time and in good condition. Good dictionary for students who are learning, very helpful notes in the front. Although beware it usually only lists one form of each word as it is concise.

Great little book full of wisdom.