The "Dictionary of Historical German Legal Terms" and its European concept

Conference item

The "Deutsches Rechtswoerterbuch" (DRW, Dictionary of Historical German Legal Terms) was established in 1897. The project of a dictionary of Anglo-Norman legal terms, devised by the Selden Society about the same time, served at its ideal - although it has never been carried out. Despite its name: Right from the beginning the DRW was not only supposed to be a dictionary of German legal terms, but of all West Germanic languages and dialects (for example: Lombardic, Old Frisian, Middle Dutch, Low German, High German). Therefore - among others - Old English legal terms are still subject of the lexicographical work. The dictionary reflects about 1400 years of legal and language history - from the first Germanic written sources until the 19th century. It is edited by an interdisciplinary team of academics (lawyers, philologists, etc.) at the "Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities" and comprises 11 volumes with about 90,000 articles from A to S so far. Since 1999 the DRW has gradually been provided with an appearance on the world-wide web. Today all completed articles of the DRW are available to the public on its website (www.deutsches-rechtswoerterbuch) free of charge.

Authors: Deutsch, A

• Alternative title: Presented at Subject Lexicography session
• Publication status: Not published
• Peer review status: Reviewed (other)
• Edition: Author's Original
• Language: English
• Subjects: Languages (Medieval and Modern) and non-English literature; German; Law; Lexicography