Agustín Barahona wrote:

> Thank you. By the way, just a question: In Spanish language
> we all have only one reference dictionary in order to appeal
> to authoritative concrete meanings, i.e., the Dictionary of
> the Spanish Royal Academy (DRAE). Is there any similar
> dictionary in English Language?

Nothing authoritative in the same sense; there is no English language
academy.

Noah Webster (1758-1843) acted as a sort of academy for American
English: folk say that part of his purpose was to document the language
of the US Constitution, to protect its meanings from being lost in
language drift. He is also responsible for most of the spelling
differences between US and Commonwealth English.

I imagine that courts of law have rules about preferring one dictionary
to another; and likely each court has its own favorite, independent of
other courts.

--
Anton Sherwood, http://www.ogre.nu/
"How'd ya like to climb this high *without* no mountain?" --Porky Pine