Library Guides: FRENCH STUDIES: Reference Sources

Reference Sources for French Studies

Use the following types of reference sources to look up information related to French Studies:

Dictionaries, Thesauri and Quotations • Biographical Sources • Encyclopedias and Almanacs • Atlases, Maps and Gazetteers • Web Portals

Dictionaries, Thesauri, and Quotations

General and subject specific dictionaries in any language, dual language dictionaries, thesauri, dictionaries of quotations, and acronym lists.

*Blue asterisk indicates that the resource was recently added to the guide

Online Resources

ARTFL: American and French Research on the Treasury of the French Language This link opens in a new window
University of Chicago

Dictionnaire de l'Académie française
9th and most recent edition of this important monolingual French dictionary which has been published by the Académie Française since 1694.
Dictionnaires d'autrefois (ARTFL)
Dictionnaire Français-Anglais (Larousse)

Godefroy, dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue francaise (IXe-XVe siecle) This link opens in a new window
This electronic edition provides detailed etymological analyses, basic and advanced searching, export and email functionality.
Le Grand Robert electronique This link opens in a new window
Based on the 12th edition of Le Grand Robert de la langue francaise (2001), it is the most complete French dictionary. Contains more than 100,000 entries, 325,000 quotations, and millions of synonyms and cross-references to related sources such as Petit Robert des noms propres (2004) and the bibliographie generale du Grand Robert. Advanced exploratory features for usage, derivation, variation, and etymologies of individual words.

L'Occitanet

Oxford Language Dictionaries Online (OLDO) This link opens in a new window
Online versions of the following titles: Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary, Oxford-Duden German Dictionary, Oxford-Paravia Italian Dictionary, Oxford Spanish Dictionary, and the Oxford Russian Dictionary.
Oxford Reference Online - Bilingual Dictionaries This link opens in a new window
Access to several bilingual dictionaries published by Oxford University Press including English to French, Spanish, German, Italian, and Latin. Includes several bilingual business dictionaries.
Tresor de la langue francaise informatise (TLFi) This link opens in a new window
Freely available electronic version of the Tresor de la langue francaise: dictionnaire de la langue de XIX et du XX Siecle(1789-1960), a 16-volume etymological and historical dictionary of 19th and 20th century French. Comprises over 100,000 words with their history, 270,000 definitions, 430,000 examples, and three different search interfaces. Each entry supplies pronunciation in the International Phonetic Alphabet, definition, orthography, etymology with sources, and history.

Available in Print Only

Argot & français populaire by Jean-Paul Colin
Call Number: Doe Reference PC3741 .C64 2006
ISBN: 2035323118
Le dictionnaire culturel en langue française by Alain Rey
Call Number: Main Stacks PC2625 .D445 2005 v.1-4
Dictionnaire de l'ancien français jusqu'au milieu du XIVe siècle by A. J. Greimas
Call Number: Graduate Services PC2889 .G76 Dictionaries
Dictionnaire de l'argot français et de ses origines by Jean-Paul Colin, Jean-Pierre Mével
Call Number: Main Stacks PC3741 .C65 2001
Dictionnaire de la langue française du seizième siècle by Edmond Huguet
Call Number: Graduate Services PC265 .H7 1925 v.1-7 Dictionaries
Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français by Kurt Baldinger
Call Number: Graduate Services PC2883 .B3 1974 Dictionaries
Moyen français: Langue de la Renaissance de 1340 à 1611 by Algirdas Julien Greimas, Teresa Mary Keane
Call Number: Main Stacks PC2650 .G74 2007
Multi dictionnaire de la langue française 4e éd. by Marie-Éva de Villers
Call Number: Doe Reference PC2625 .V54 2003 Dictionaries
Trésor de la langue française; dictionnaire de la langue du XIXe et du XXe siècle (1789-1960) by Paul Imbs
Call Number: Doe Reference PC2625 .I41 v.1-16 Dictionaries

Biographical Sources

Online Resources

Biographie Universelle, Ancienne Et Moderne, Etc. (HathiTrust)

Biography Reference Bank This link opens in a new window
Contains biographical information on approximately 500,000 individuals from antiquity to the present. Contains the full text of well-known biographical resources like Current Biography, the World Authors Series, Nobel Prize Winners, World Artists, World Film Directors and many other sources.

Grove Music Online This link opens in a new window
Includes the full text of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, The New Grove Dictionary of Opera and The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. Includes biographical information on composers, performers and music writers.
Literature Resource Center (LRC) This link opens in a new window
Provides access to content of numerous print counterparts including Contemporary Authors, Contemporary Literary Criticism Select, and Dictionary of Literary Biography.

Nouvelle biographie générale depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu'à nos jours, avec les renseignements bibliographiques et l'indication des sources á consulter (HathiTrust)

Oxford Art Online This link opens in a new window
Gateway to art research and access point for Oxford art reference resources, including Grove Art Online, The Oxford Companion to Western Art, Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, and The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms.
World Biographical Information System This link opens in a new window
Indexes the complete contents of 38 microfiche sets of biographical archives, providing short biographies on more than 3.6 million persons from all periods, countries and regions worldwide. Based on K. G. Saur's microfiche Biographical Archives, which consolidates biographical articles from a wide variety of printed reference works published from the 16th to the 20th century. UCB owns virtually all the microfiche sets which the WBIS indexes.

Available in Print Only

Dictionnaire biographique illustré de la Commune de Paris de 1871 by Gérald Dittmar
Call Number: Main Stacks DC317 .D577 2004
Biographical dictionary of French political leaders since 1870 by David S. Bell, Douglas Johnson, Peter Morris.
Call Number: Doe Reference DC342 .B56 1990
Dictionnaire biographique des femmes célèbres et remarquables de notre histoire by Marie-Paule Desjardins
Call Number: Doe Reference CT3270 .D47 2007
Dictionnaire biographique et géographique du nationalisme français (1880-1900) by Bertrand Joly
Call Number: Main Stacks DC342.1 .J65 1998
Dictionnaire de biographie française by J. Balteau, M. Barroux, [et] M. Prévost
Call Number: Doe Reference DC36 .D5 v.1-20, fasc. 115-117-
Dictionnaire des écrivains de langue française by Jean-Pierre de Beaumarchais, Daniel Couty, Alain Rey
Call Number: Doe Reference PQ41 .B412 2001 v.1-2 Dictionaries
Dictionnaire des intellectuels français : Les personnes. Les lieux. Les moments by Jacques Julliard et Michel Winock
Call Number: Doe Reference DC33.7 .D48 2002
Dictionnaire des orientalistes de langue française by François Pouillon
Call Number: Doe Reference DS32.6 .D53 2008
Dictionnaire des rois et reines de France : quinze siècles de pouvoir royal by Françoise Guerard
Call Number: Main Stacks DC36.6 .G84 2005
Dictionnaire historique et biographique de la Suisse by Marcel Godet
Call Number: Doe Reference DQ51 .D55 v.1-7
Dictionnaire littéraire des femmes de langue française : de Marie de France à Marie NDiaye by Christiane P. Makward et Madeleine Cottenet-Hage
Call Number: Doe Reference PQ149 .M35 1996
L'encyclopédie maghrébine by Achour Cheurfi
Call Number: Main Stacks DT184 .C44 2007
Les Français qui ont fait la France by Les Français qui ont fait la France
Call Number: Doe Reference DC36 .B658 2009
Index Biographique Francais by Tommaso Nappo
Call Number: Doe Reference DC36 .I52 2004 v.1-7
Nouvelle biographie nationale [Belgium]
Call Number: Doe Reference DH513 .A3 1988 v.1-12
Le Robert des grands écrivains de langue française by Philippe Hamon et Denis Roger-Vasselin
Call Number: Main Stacks PQ41 .R634 2000

Encyclopedias and Almanacs

General or subject-specific encyclopedias, almanacs, and other collections of factual information.

Online Resources

Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics This link opens in a new window
Covers the topics in contemporary linguistics from fundamental linguistic disciplines such as phonetics, syntax, and morphology to applications in other disciplines such as anthropology, education, psychology, language acquisition, cognitive science, media, computer science, sociology, medicine, and the law. Includes video, audio, and image files.

Encyclopédie du dix-neuvième siècle : répertoire universel des sciences, des lettres et des arts, avec la biographie et de nombreuses gravures (HathiTrust)

Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism This link opens in a new window
The Guide presents a comprehensive historical survey of literary theory and criticism, providing entries on critical schools and movements, critics and theorists, and terms, along with references and bibliographies for further research.
Oxford Reference Online - Encyclopedias This link opens in a new window
Access to Oxford University Press encyclopedias including: World Encyclopedia, World Flags, World Maps and more.
Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy This link opens in a new window
Includes the entire content of the 10-volume Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Includes links to web resources. (Encyclopedia of Philosophy Online (Routledge))

Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies (3rd ed.)

Available in Print Only

Encyclopaedia universalis
Call Number: Doe Reference AE25 .E4 1985 v.1-22
Encyclopédie nouvelle by P. Leroux et J. Reynaud
Call Number: Doe Reference AE25 .E485 1991 v.1-8
La Grande encyclopédie, inventaire raisonné des sciences, des lettres et des arts by André Berthelot
Call Number: Doe Reference AE25 .G7 v.1-31
Le Grand Robert des noms propres : dictionnaire universel alphabétique et analogique des noms propres by Paul Robert
Call Number: Doe Reference AG25 .G7 1984 v.1-5
Larousse du XXe siècle by Paul Augè
Call Number: Doe Reference AE25 .L28 v.1-6

Atlases, Maps and Gazetteers

Online Resources

Columbia Gazetteer of the World This link opens in a new window
Geographical encyclopedia of names, descriptions, and characteristics of more than 165,000 places in the world. Entries include: demography; physical geography; political boundaries; industry, trade, and service activities; agriculture; cultural, historical, and archeological points of interest; transportation lines; longitude, latitude, and elevations; distance to relevant places; pronunciations; official local government place-names and changed or variant names and spellings.

Country Studies (Library of Congress)

David Rumsey Map Collection This link opens in a new window
Contains to date over 8,000 maps online and focuses on rare 18th and 19th century North and South America cartographic history materials. Historic maps of the World, Europe, Asia and Africa are also represented. [Note: This collection is also part of the UC Image Service and can be viewed in two ways: the Insight Browser allows users to view the collection using a web browser; the Luna Insight software provides greater functionality but must be downloaded.]

Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative (ECAI)
more...less...
Portal for global mapping, imagery, and texts. Presents combinations of data from multiple disciplines visually and immediately.

Gallica This link opens in a new window
Provides free electronic access to one of the world's largest collections of digitized books, periodicals, documents, manuscripts, images and audio-visual resources. One can browse (Decouverte), search (Recherche), or explore thematic groupings of materials (Dossiers).

The World Factbook This link opens in a new window
Provides fundamental and factual reference material on a country or issue including current economic statistics and indicators by country including population, GDP, external debt and birth and death rates. Includes maps.

Available in Print Only

Dictionnaire des pays et provinces de France by Bénédicte et Jean-Jacques Fénié
Call Number: Main Stacks DC14 .B69 2000
Dictionnaire géographique de la France : communes, départements, régions, population, économie, tourisme by René Oizon
Call Number: Earth Science/Map Collection DC14 .O36
Index atlas de France : liste des localités nomenclature des communes, cartes départementales et plans de villes
Call Number: Earth Science/Map Collection G1844.21.P8 O3 1982 Reference

Web Portals

Web sites and subject-specific search engines available without restriction. See also French Libraries and Catalogs under the Research Tools tab.

Europeana This link opens in a new window
Provides open access to more than 15 million digital objects, including film material, photos, paintings, sounds, maps, manuscripts, books, newspapers and archival papers from more than 1500 European institutions. Europeana -- the European digital library, museum and archive -- launched in 2008 and is funded by the European Commission and its member states. This current prototype is one of many parallel projects of The European Library.
Gallica This link opens in a new window
Provides free electronic access to one of the world's largest collections of digitized books, periodicals, documents, manuscripts, images and audio-visual resources. One can browse (Decouverte), search (Recherche), or explore thematic groupings of materials (Dossiers).

Secondary menu

FRENCH STUDIES: Reference Sources

Reference Sources for French Studies

Dictionaries, Thesauri, and Quotations

Biographical Sources

Encyclopedias and Almanacs

Atlases, Maps and Gazetteers

Web Portals