13 best medical dictionaries
Medical dictionaries are reference books or resources specifically designed to provide definitions, explanations, and information related to medical terminology, healthcare practices, and medical concepts.They are invaluable tools for healthcare professionals, students, researchers, and anyone seeking to understand or communicate effectively within the field of medicine. Here's what you need to know about medical dictionaries:
Comprehensive Definitions: Medical dictionaries offer comprehensive definitions for medical terms, jargon, acronyms, and abbreviations used in the healthcare industry. They provide clear explanations of medical terms to help users understand their meaning and usage.
Terminology: Medical dictionaries cover a wide range of medical terminology, including anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology, diagnostics, treatments, medical procedures, and more. They may also include terms from related fields like biology, chemistry, and genetics.
Reference for Healthcare Professionals: Healthcare professionals, such as doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and medical students, rely on medical dictionaries to ensure accurate communication, record-keeping, and documentation in the medical field.
Language and Translation: Medical dictionaries often include translations of medical terms into various languages, making them valuable resources for medical professionals working in multilingual environments or for those dealing with patients from diverse linguistic backgrounds.
Illustrations and Diagrams: Some medical dictionaries include illustrations, diagrams, and anatomical drawings to enhance understanding, particularly for complex anatomical structures or medical conditions.
Updated Information: Medical dictionaries are regularly updated to reflect changes in medical terminology, advances in medical science, and evolving healthcare practices. Staying current is crucial to maintaining accuracy in healthcare documentation and communication.
Specialized and General Dictionaries: There are both general medical dictionaries that cover a broad range of topics and specialized dictionaries focusing on specific medical specialties, such as cardiology, dermatology, or radiology. These specialized dictionaries provide in-depth information on terms relevant to a particular medical field.
Online and Digital Versions: In addition to traditional printed versions, many medical dictionaries are available as digital or online resources, making them easily accessible to a wider audience. Online medical dictionaries often offer search functionality, pronunciation guides, and cross-referencing features for user convenience.
Medical Education: Medical students use medical dictionaries as essential study tools to build their medical vocabulary, understand complex concepts, and prepare for exams.
Patient Understanding: Medical dictionaries can also be useful for patients and their families who want to better understand medical terms and diagnoses, allowing them to actively participate in discussions with healthcare providers and make informed decisions about their health.
In summary, medical dictionaries are essential reference materials for anyone working in the healthcare field, from healthcare professionals to medical students and researchers. They provide comprehensive definitions and explanations of medical terminology, helping ensure accurate communication and understanding in the complex world of medicine.
Below you can find our editor's choice of the best medical dictionaries on the market
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary
Merriam-Webster
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Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary
More than 39,000 entries with 1,000 new words and senses. New words added include: chemo brain, diabesity, gastric banding, and sarcopenia. A guide to the essential language of today’s medicine and health care, providing up-to-date coverage of terminology from all major fields of medical practice and research.
Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary (Dorland's Medical Dictionary)
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Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary, 33rd Edition
The world's most trusted medical dictionary provides about 125,000 well-defined entries, 50 plates illustrating anatomy, and 1,500 full-color illustrations.
Dorland's Pocket Medical Dictionary, 30th Edition
The most often-used terminology from Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary. This edition includes 36,000+ entries, a 32-page set of high quality anatomical plates, and 257 full-color illustrations.
Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary (Dorland's Medical Dictionary)
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Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary, 33rd Edition
The 33rd Edition is an ideal resource for medical and allied health professionals, students in all healthcare disciplines, medical writers, editors, transcriptionists, coders, researchers, attorneys, and more – as well as those working in government agencies and healthcare management.
Key Features:
- 5,500+ new entries drawn from current sources
- 500 new illustrations
- The revised entry format includes related parts of speech
- Provides approximately 125,000 well-defined entries, 50 plates illustrating anatomy, and 1,500+ clear, full-color illustrations
- 6,000+ new and revised terms and numerous new illustrations
- Offers one year of free access to the complete content of Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary on DorlandsOnline.com, which includes 35,000 audio pronunciations and other bonus features
- Ensures that you’re up to date with anatomy terminology that reflects current Terminologia Anatomica standards
Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary, 32nd Edition
Understand and correctly use all the latest terminology in today’s ever-evolving medical field with the 32nd Edition of the comprehensive highly respected Dorlands Illustrated Medical Dictionary!
Key Features:
- 5,500+ new entries drawn from current sources
- 500 new illustrations
- Get more information in a smaller amount of space as the revised entry format includes related parts of speech
- Enhance your understanding of all the current medical terminology in your field by relying on the most comprehensive and highly respected medical dictionary, bringing you more than 120,000 well-defined entries and 1500 clear illustrations
- Listen to 35,000 audio pronunciations
- Search www.Dorlands.com on the Internet anytime, anywhere for all of the language integral to contemporary medicine
Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary (Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary (Thumb Index Version))
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FREE, 1-year subscription to Taber’s Online
Keep the definitions from Taber's in the palm of your hand! A FREE, 1-year subscription to Taber’s Online powered by Unbound medicine unlocks more than more than 65,000 definitions, 32,000 audio pronunciations, 1,200 images, and 120 videos. Plus, you can download Taber's to your phone or tablet for on-the-go reference!
Mosby's Medical Dictionary
Stedman's Medical Dictionary for the Health Professions and Nursing (Stedman's Medical Dictionary for the Health Professions & Nursing)
Intuitive Interpreting: A Spanish Medical Dictionary and Guide Mastered for the Professional Interpreter
Merriam-Webster's Spanish-English Medical Dictionary, Newest Edition (Spanish and English Edition)
Merriam-Webster
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Merriam-Webster's Spanish-English Medical Dictionary
More than 12,000 medical terms and phrases.
Includes part-of-speech, Spanish noun gender, abbreviations, anatomical illustrations, and tables with topics such as immunizations, allergens, and types of surgeries in English & Spanish. Special sections include Spanish and English sounds and spelling; weights and measures; numbers, time, and temperature; and irregular Spanish verbs. Perfect for use at home, work, school, in the community, and in health-care settings.
Mosby's Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing & Health Professions
Medical Terminology & Anatomy for Coding
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, new enlarged print edition
Dorland's Pocket Medical Dictionary (Dorland's Medical Dictionary)
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Genuine Elsevier Product
All copies of this edition carry the Genuine Elsevier Product seal. To authenticate your book scan the label with a smartphone app and enter the unique ID code.
Spanish-English English-Spanish Medical Dictionary: Diccionario Medico Español-Ingles Ingles-Español (Spanish to English/ English to Spanish Medical Dictionary) (Spanish Edition)
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