Where can I download a good Portuguese>>Eng dictionary

August 5, 2007 9:34 AM

Where can I download a good free Port>>Eng dictionary?

I had one on my previous computer, and I think it was free. It was a Michaelis dictionary and I think it was from UOL or associated with that site somehow. Even so, I couldn't find it. I need something to help with some particularly idiomatic and technical translations so babelfish won't do the trick. I know the site proz.com too, but I don't want to always post my questions especially if they would be easy to find in a dictionary. Any suggestions much appreciated!

posted by mateuslee to education (11 comments total)

Portuguese Portuguese, or Brazilian Portuguese?
It makes a difference.
posted by jozxyqk at 9:38 AM on August 5, 2007

To be honest, for the sort of things I need it for, it wouldn't make a huge difference - though I work mainly with the Brazilian variety, if you know of a good European one, let me know anyway. It doesn't matter so much (though, true, Brazilian is preferable if there is an option)
Thanks!
posted by mateuslee at 9:50 AM on August 5, 2007

Here’s what appears to be a decent Portuguese-English-Portuguese dictionary, if archaisms are not that big a deal for you. And they’re probably not, if .pt vs. .br is not important.
posted by Aidan Kehoe at 10:08 AM on August 5, 2007

You might benefit from "English as She is Spoke". You can get a copy from Amazon.

Or not...
posted by mjbraun at 10:30 AM on August 5, 2007

Ultralingua is the best one I know of. There's a free trial but its not free...

I disagree there's a major difference between PT and BR - though ultralingua points it out when there's a difference. Or rather, the greater differences are in how they are spoken, not in how they are written.
posted by vacapinta at 10:33 AM on August 5, 2007

Yes, Vacapinta - I agree - significant phonological differences, but a great deal of lexical similarity... you can probably find even more extreme differences in varieties of Brazilian Portuguese.
posted by mateuslee at 10:45 AM on August 5, 2007

Hi Mateus --

This doesn't exactly answer your question, but if you have a Mac, there is dicionario, a useful continental Portuguese dictionary dashboard widget.
posted by umbú at 1:16 PM on August 5, 2007

Ultralingua does have a free service which can be found here.
posted by pandaharma at 5:42 PM on August 5, 2007

Thanks Pandaharma, but there is no PORT>>ENG feature on that dictionary!
posted by mateuslee at 11:43 PM on August 7, 2007

Yes there is. It's right below ENG -> PORT.
posted by vacapinta at 9:10 AM on August 8, 2007

It's not downloadable, and thus not really an answer to your question, but I use the Collins online dictionary a lot. It distinguishes between Continental Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese, and provides context and idiomatic expressions for many entries.
posted by dmo at 9:07 AM on August 9, 2007