El Diccionario de Términos Médicos de la Real Academia Nacional de Medicinaun proyecto largamente acariciado que pronto será realidad

Abstract

Since its inception in the 18th century, one of the functions of the Real Academia Nacional de Medicina (RANM) of Spain has been the creation of a dictionary of medical terms. For a variety of reasons, the production of the dictionary has been delayed, but the board of directors of the RANM has once again taken up the project and created a technical department of medical lexicography. Plans are currently to send a preliminary edition of the dictionary, comprising almost 50 000 entries and titled Diccionario de términos médicos, to press toward the end of 2008. In this article the editor-in-chief of the Diccionario de términos médicos, in his capacity as a member of the RANM, introduces the project and summarizes the objectives of this academic dictionary, along with some of the principal features that distinguish its layout and lexicographic microstructure, with practical examples drawn from the dictionary itself. Despite the huge effort involved and the many problems that have arisen, the RANM is confident that the obstacles will be overcome and that it will be able to offer the Spanish-speaking health science community a reference work that has long been awaited.