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Legal Dictionaries
Legal dictionaries:
- define legal terms and common words with special legal meanings
- provide definitions of legal maxims and Latin terms
- often include value-added information, such as a case reference or a citation to a relevant piece of legislation
- American and English dictionaries don’t always reflect Canadian usage
Select current titles are listed below. A historical collection can be found at via HeinOnline's Legal Dictionaries 
Dictionaries: Canadian Law
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Barron's Canadian Law Dictionary, 6th ed
by
Call Number: Learning Commons (level 2): KE183.Y63 2009 -
Dictionary of Canadian Law, 4th ed
by
Call Number: Learning Commons & Reference Room (level 2): KE183 .D83 2011 -
Pocket Dictionary of Canadian Law, 5th ed
by
Call Number: Learning Commons (level 2): KE183 .D84 2011
Dictionaries: United States Law
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Black’s Law Dictionary, 11th ed
by
Call Number: Learning Commons (level 2): KF156 .B53 2019Publication Date: 2019or current edition online via Westlaw Edge Canada
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Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law
Call Number: Learning Commons (level 2): KF156 .M47 2011Publication Date: 2011
Dictionaries: United Kingdom Law
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Jowitt’s Dictionary of English Law, 4th ed
Call Number: Learning Commons (level 2): KD313 .J69 2015 -
Osborn’s Concise Law Dictionary, 11th ed
Call Number: Learning Commons (level 2): KD313 .O8 2009 -
Oxford Dictionary of Law
Call Number: Online -
The Law Student's Dictionary, 13th ed
by
Call Number: Learning Commons (level 2): KD313 .M69 2008Publication Date: 2008
Dictionaries: General
Use general dictionaries
- for reliable definitions of common usage terms
- if have exhausted possibilities for finding a legal definition
In addition to using dictionaries for definitions, when appropriate consult:
- legislation (definitions section and text of relevant statutes/regulations)
- relevant Federal or Provincial Interpretation Act
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Oxford English Dictionary
The OED is the world's accepted authority on the history and development of the English language. It traces the usage of words through 2.5 million quotations from a wide range of international English language sources. -
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Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
Call Number: Learning Commons (level 2): PE1628 .M36 1998
