Welcome

Dictionaries of the Scots Language (DSL) publishes a range of dictionaries, from the 22 volumes that make up the content of DSL Online, via the classic single-volume Concise Scots Dictionary, to the handy Pocket Scots Dictionary. Browse our full publications list here.

This site gives online access to three of our dictionaries previously published either in print form or as apps and includes a new publication, 100 Scots Words from Outlander.

About Scots

Scots is spoken throughout Scotland and in parts of Ulster. It is different from:

  • Scottish English, although they share many similarities due to their close historical relationship. Most speakers of Scots can also speak Scottish English although the opposite is not true.
  • Scottish Gaelic, to which Scots is not related at all.

Essential English-Scots Dictionary

Launched in May 2024, our Essential English-Scots Dictionary provides Scots equivalents for over 4,000 English words and phrases selected from our Concise English-Scots Dictionary and published in our Scots School Dictionary and Essential Scots Dictionary. The content is based entirely on material, largely unchanged, collected over several decades by William Graham, author of The Scots Word Book (1977), and donated to us in the 1990s.

Essential Scots-English Dictionary

The Essential Scots-English Dictionary is for everyone who speaks, reads or writes Scots or would like to do so. It is also for everyone teaching Scots at primary or secondary level. It provides definitions in English for 9,500 Scots words and phrases, and includes over 1,000 audio pronunciation guides. It focuses on Scots words and meanings that are used only or mainly in Scotland. For words and meanings that are found also in English you should look up a good English dictionary. 

Scots-Polish Dictionary/Słownik podstawowy szkocko-polski

Słownik podstawowy szkocko-polski przeznaczony jest dla wszystkich rodzimych użytkowników i użytkowniczek języka polskiego, którzy na co dzień spotykają się ze szkockimi słowami, i chcieliby je rozumieć. W Słowniku podstawowym szkocko-polskim znajdują się polskie definicje 9 500 szkockich słów i wyrazów oraz blisko 1 100 przewodników audio z wymową.

100 Scots Words from Outlander

Released in January 2025, this publication builds on the success of our Scots Word of the Week series (published on Saturdays in The Herald) and our 2019 book, 100 Favourite Scots Words. A few years ago, we noticed a spike in words that don’t usually appear in our search lists and realised they were words from the Outlander series. A small group of readers excerpted all the Scots words from the published books and one hundred of them form the basis of this new publication. We are very grateful for the warm encouragement and support of Diana Gabaldon, who has provided a foreword.

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