Answer:
- A dictionary is a collection of the words of a language, usually arranged in alphabetical order, giving their meanings, and often their usage, synonyms and origin (etymology).
- India has an ancient tradition of compiling words: the ‘Nighantu’ is a collection of difficult Vedic words, explained by Yaska in his ‘Nirukta’; Amarsinha’s ‘Amarkosh’ is a famous Sanskrit dictionary.
- Shivaji Maharaj got the ‘Rajvyavaharkosh’ prepared, which gave Sanskrit equivalents of Persian words used in administration. In modern times Molesworth’s Marathi–English dictionary and many other dictionaries were prepared.
- There are various types — dictionaries of words, of technical terms (paribhasha kosh), etymological dictionaries, thesauruses, and dictionaries of idioms and proverbs.
- Dictionaries help in reading old documents correctly and show how the meanings of words have changed, so they are useful to historians.