Which language has the most words?

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Counting the total number of words used in a language is complex. 
Comparisons are particularly difficult between alphabetic and non-alphabetic languages.

With European languages, the best point of comparison is dictionary size. The size of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) suggests that the English language has the largest vocabulary. 
  • The OED has 23 volumes and defines 615,100 words.
  • A similar German dictionary offers around 180,000 words. 
  • A Russian language dictionary has around 160,000 words 
  • A French edition has fewer than 150,000 words. 
What is a word? A surprisingly complex question