Long post incoming.
When I get my hands on a dictionary (electronic or regular) and want to test how comprehensive it is, I find it hard to think of any difficult words >_> So I think I need to build up a list to use in these situations.
Here are some words that stumped me while reading 涼宮ハルヒの陰謀 today, and what the other Japanese-English dictionaries available to me were able to tell me about them, in short. (J-J dictionaries excluded to prevent this from getting too long >_>)
If you could check what the Random House dictionary has to say, that might provide further insight into its strengths/weaknesses
麓（ふもと）
Kodansha's Furigana Japanese Dictionary:
foot (of a mountain) +1 example sentence
デイリーコンサイス和英辞典【第5版】:
(at) the foot ((of a hill))
プログレッシブ和英中辞典第【第3版】@yahoo:
the foot ((of a mountain)) +1ex
ニューセンチュリー和英辞典【第2版】@yahoo:
the foot; a bottom; a base. +1ex
新和英中辞典【第4版】@excite:
the foot; the base +1ex
EDICT:
the foot; the bottom; the base (of a mountain) +1ex
庵（いおり）
Ko: ---
デ:
a hermit's cell
プ:
a hermitage +1ex
ニ: ---
新:
a hermitage
ED:
hermitage; retreat
加虐（かぎゃく）and
加虐趣味（かぎゃくしゅみ）
Ko: ---
デ: ---
プ: ---
ニ: ---
新: ---
ED: (加虐)
causing pain
獣道（けものみち）
Ko: ---
デ: ---
プ: ---
ニ: ---
新:
an animal [a game] trail
ED:
animal trail
円墳（えんぷん）
Ko: ---
デ: ---
プ: ---
ニ: ---
新: ---
ED:
round burial mound +1ex
余裕（よゆう）
in the sense of "calmness"/"composure",
not the sense of "room"/"leeway"/"spare [time/money]".
in the part I was reading, this manifested as 「ようやく状況に慣れてきたのか、～Ｖ余裕が出てきたようだ」
Ko: (entry, but no mention)
デ: (余裕綽々としている: "be calm and composed", but no indication that 余裕 can mean "composure" on its
own)
プ: (similar to above)
ニ:
calmness; composure +3ex (余裕を失う lose one's composure [presence of mind].)
新:
composure; scope
ED:
surplus; composure; margin; room; time; allowance; [+3 more] (buried amongst quasi-synonyms, no example)
人恋しい（ひとこいしい）
Ko: (doesn't have 恋しい even)
デ: (恋しい definition is irrelevant, but it does list 恋しがる as:
long ((for)); yearn ((after)), which helps)
プ:
(1ex) "miss human companionship"
ニ: (nothing useful in the definition, but one of the example sentences for 恋しい is revealing)
新:
feel lonely; feel in need of company
ED:
longing for others
I must use EDICT more ._.; I generally stay away from it because the example sentences are a bit lacking compared to some other J-E dictionaries, but it at least had something to offer on every entry I tried here. My general pattern is Yahoo J-E dictionaries →(if not found) J-J, but I think EDICT deserves a place in the middle
;
And Kodansha's furigana dictionary is apparently not very useful for reading actual literature. Which I should have expected since it says "basic vocabulary" and "most commonly used words" on the back. I should have thought further ahead before buying it
(was a while ago but.)
How does Random House fare?
(also if anyone else has any other dictionaries to add?)
(is there a comparison like this anywhere else?)
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