- Deutsches Wörterbuch
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Das Deutsche Wörterbuch / Deutsches Wörterbuch (DWB, The "German Dictionary" / "German Dictionary") is one of the most important dictionaries of the German language. It is for German what the Oxford English Dictionary is for English, containing detailed historical information about the origin and use over time of German words, with examples taken from actual documents.
It was started by the Grimm brothers (known also for Grimm's Fairy Tales) in 1838. In German the dictionary is also known as Der Grimm ("The Grimm [Dictionary]"). Finally completed in 1961, the dictionary contains 32 volumes and includes about 350,000 main entries. In 1971 a supplement with references was published, and work on a second edition is ongoing.
Initially the Grimm brothers expected the project to take ten years and produce 6-7 volumes. In fact, the first volume was not published until 1854. Wilhelm Grimm died in 1859, and Jacob in 1864, while working on the entry for "Frucht" (fruit). After their deaths multiple institutions were involved in the work, including the Prussian Academy of Sciences and the Berlin Academy, with a center in Goettingen also involved.
Planning for the second edition began in 1957, four years before the first edition was finished. It was to be an international project involving both East and West Germany. At present, the letters A-F are expected to be completed in 2012.
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