| Summary: | Highlights • A headword's meaning is composed of intralinguistic and interlinguistic meaning. • 18 partial equivalences are identified for headwords in bilingual dictionaries. • Partial equivalences are prevalent in bilingual dictionaries. • Partial equivalences can be compensated by translation and lexicographical methods. Abstract A headword's meaning develops along two paths in bilingual dictionaries: intralinguistic meaning and interlinguistic meaning, the former defined by the headword's linguistic system while the latter shown by its translation(s). The semantic differences between the headwords and their translations in signification, and in syntagmatic and associative relations, indicate that partial equivalences in bilingual dictionaries are in fact solid and authentic, and are thus prevalent. Based on a new classification of meaning developed from Saussure's value hypothesis, we have identified 18 possible types of partial equivalences. Bilingual dictionaries may choose to compensate for the partial equivalences through translation methods and dictionary devices according to users' needs, types of the dictionary and evidence provided by the corpus.
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