How many words are there in the dictionary?
¡Hola!
I've just found out, in the "About" section of the site, that there are 300,000 translations in the dictionary, which is, to be sure, quite impressive. However, as is known among all dictionary-minded learners, the number of translations a dictionary has is both bigger and different from the number of words it contains. Therefore, as this particular piece of information is nowhere to be found (at least for me), my question is about the number of words this dictionary has.
So, how many words are there in the dictionary? And (secondly): how many words are there in all the Spanish versions in the world?
Thank you.
1 Answer
I found this online about the number of words in the Spanish language:
? English has far more words at its disposal than does Spanish, and the ratio is probably close to 2:1, although there is no exact way to give an answer.
? There is no agreement among authorities about which words are a legitimate part of a language or how to count them.
? Any living language is in a continual state of change. Both Spanish and English are continuing to add words — English primarily through the addition of technology-related words and words related to popular culture, while Spanish expands primarily through the adoption of English words.
? English has around 250,000 to 300,000 words when obsolete words aren't counted.
?English has about twice as many words as does Spanish.
? Large college-level English dictionaries typically include around 200,000 words.
