The Reader's Digest Great Encyclopedic Dictionary

An excellent dictionary, and I only refrain from giving it five stars because of its age. This dictionary served me extremely well throughout school and college, and the foreign language dictionaries in the back (Spanish, French, and German) got me interested in languages at an early age. There is also an essay on the development of the English language and a glossary of medical terms.

This is the sort of all-in-one dictionary that was indispensable before the age of the internet, and is still a favored companion when I'm away from the computer.

Recommendation: If you only have one dictionary on your shelves, this is a good candidate, but you won't find any neologisms of the last fifty years.

A good, basic dictionary.