Desk Dictionary of the Czech Language

The Desk Dictionary of the Czech Language is a large-scale monolingual dictionary consisting of nine volumes and appendices that has never been published. It was written between 1935 and 1957, not as a codification dictionary but as a scholarly, descriptive dictionary intended to consolidate literary lexis.

Compared to its predecessors, the dictionary provided a more complete lexicographic description of lexis. Each entry captured polysemy and contained more elaborate definitions of the given meanings. Examples provided as quotations were another essential part of the entries (and are the reason why the dictionary is sometimes called a quotation dictionary). The dictionary also sought to clarify the boundaries between literary and non-literary language, marking the first significant attempt to stylistically label lexical units.

A digitised version of the dictionary was made available in 2007. Supplements are available at this link.