Several authoritative English-Sanskrit dictionaries are available as free PDFs through the Internet Archive Top Recommended Dictionaries (PDF)
1. Massive Lexical Database
While Monier-Williams is the encyclopedia, Vaman Shivram Apte’s The Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary is the user-friendly tool. english sanskrit dictionary pdf
Popular English-Sanskrit Dictionary PDFs and later compilers like M. Dhingra
Universally recognized as the most popular and scholarly work, this dictionary is essential for anyone diving deep into Sanskrit. You can find various editions of the Monier-Williams Dictionary at the Internet Archive V.S. Apte: The Student's English-Sanskrit Dictionary contributed immensely to this field.
To appreciate the value of the PDF dictionary, one must understand the monumental effort required to create the original texts. The translation of Sanskrit into English was a hallmark of the colonial and orientalist era, with the most famous contribution being Sir Monier Monier-Williams' Sanskrit-English Dictionary, published in 1872. While Monier-Williams focused on Sanskrit-to-English, the need for an English-to-Sanskrit lexicon grew as English became the medium of instruction in India. Scholars like Vaman Shivaram Apte, whose The Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary remains a gold standard, and later compilers like M. Dhingra, contributed immensely to this field.