I guess it is the Oxford dictionary. We use it here in germany, but it is only englisch=englisch. If you want englisch=german i would say " Langenscheidt" www.langenscheidt.de

Das ist der Muret-Sanders:

http://www.langenscheidt.de/katalog/titel_lan...

There is no such thing as THE best dictionary; it depends what you want it for. The ultimate English dictionary has to be the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). This is as much a work of scholarship as a mere dictionary. It is based on historical principles, with quotations for entries. There are thousands of words that are unknown to modern English speakers. The printed version comes in about 15 volumes (from memory) and will cost you a fortune. Furthermore it will be weak on the latest expressions, acronyms, technical jargon etc, as it takes so long to be updated.

Personally I like Chambers dictionaries. I have both the 20th century and the 21st century versions. They come in one volume, similar in size to the Wahrig Kompaktwörterbuch. It doesn't say how many entries there are, but I reckon at a rough estimate around 45,000. The price on mine: £16.99, but I expect that has risen since I bought my copy!

At the risk of being tarred and feathered, Langensch**** is _not_ the best dictionary - it is OK if you are confident in both languages, if not then it is very difficult to use correctly as it often offers obscure translations. Pons is more user-friendly (believe me, I can tell whether my students - learning to be translators - have used a Langenscheidts dictionary to prepare their work or have used Pons
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