Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with dictionary

Is there a word for wondering if there's a word for something?

penciltopper — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:33:56 -0800

Is there a word for wondering if there's a word for things? I do that a lot. In the list I keep of potential AskMefi questions, I'm seeing a lot of "is there a word for..." items, and I find that I'm prone to that thought a lot.

I'd think with things like Urban Dictionary et al, that teh intertubes would be a good place to either source words or get consensus on calling something by a particular word.

The old thing of Sniglets, and the newer phenomenon of Santorum would seem to bear this out.

So I guess my question is
1) where to look for "yes, there is a word for that, and it is _____"
2) if there's a name for the behavior of wondering about / looking for / coining names or new words.

Detailed etymological dictionary?

Tchad — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:01:45 -0800

Does a comprehensive etymological dictionary exist that crosses languages? I am looking for an etymological dictionary, but one that spans multiple languages.

Of the two I own now, one of them is very straightforward. It gives the word, then one or two roots. Sometimes it gives a third root or a proposed theoretical root. The other defines the word, and then gives a short story about the word's origin.

What I am looking for is something like the two of them combined but also with derivations in other languages.

So maybe the root for English "x" is in Latin "y", but Russian and German used "y" to form this other word "z" which means "n". Even better if it were to detail the structure of the root from which it was taken - as in "When Russian borrowed "y" to form "z" they used the ablative case, where the English borrowed the nominative".

I guess I am looking for an etymological dictionary that goes back a step or two, then turns and comes forward again in another place with lots of detail.

I know it would be a tall order, but does something like this exist? I have Googled, but cannot find anything this broad.

Looking for foreign language dictionaries.

RavinDave — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 16:53:46 -0800

Need help compiling a list of monolingual dictionaries. Looking for any online dictionaries where the definitions are given in the language itself. Example: Yahoo's Japanese-to-Japanese monolingual dictionary.

Particularly keen on Russian or German resources, but am grateful for anything.

Oh yeah ... English doesn't count. Got that covered. ;)

Quiero un diccionario de Español en mi ... que is "Mobile Phone" in Español?

Admira — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 16:27:24 -0800

I'm on an ongoing quest to learn Spanish, and I thought it would be handy to have a dictionary on my mobile (cell) phone. I have a Nokia E51 - Symbian s60 34rd edition phone. I bought the paper Collins English/Spanish Dictionary and it had a link to their mobile software (5th down on this site). But before shelling out 10 pounds I thought I'd see if the hive mind could recommend any alternatives? Thanks!

What Dictionary does the Dashboard widget use?

ascetic — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:07:56 -0800

Which dictionary does the widget in Dashboard use? (Mac OS X) I really like the definitions it gives, plus the etymology, usage, etc.

What happened to The American Heritage Dictionary?

cgc373 — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:03:39 -0800

Does anyone know what happened to Bartleby.com's edition of The American Heritage Dictionary? It used to be at http://www.bartleby.com/61/ and now it's gone. It was there less than a month ago. It would be a shame to lose one of the most useful free resources on the 'net without good reason.

Are there any multilingual rhyming dictionaries?

Mummy of a Lady Named Jemutesonekh — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 18:50:55 -0800

Are there any multilingual rhyming dictionaries?

좋은 한영사전 알습니까?

non-kneebiter — Sat, 30 May 2009 17:06:15 -0800

Looking for a cheap, non-romanized Korean-English dictionary. My brother is looking for a Korean-English dictionary and has had trouble finding one to his liking. His specifications:

-non-romanized and not a phrasebook
-electronic or book
if electronic, non-speaking; without color screen or mp3 player
-including hanja (Chinese characters)
-cheap (< $80)
-used is acceptable

Any suggestions of what brands to look for or websites/ bookstores to check out? Also useful would be shops IN SEOUL where good dictionaries can be found.

Cheers!

dict.leo.org for French?

Electrius — Mon, 11 May 2009 18:25:40 -0800

Good free French-English dictionary online? I'm wondering if there is a French-English equivalent to dict.leo.org, the German dictionary, for French. I like d.l.o because it has idioms, comprehensive meanings, links to websites that show inflection patterns, et cetera, and while it's no substitute for the OGD it certainly cuts the mustard. I know it has German-French the same way but unfortunately I am not confident enough in my German to use that. Anyways, where can I find such a product, if it exists?

Dia-whatzit?

Phalene — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 09:37:25 -0800

Assignment Filter: What the heck is a "dialectical relationship"? I'm supposed to write a 7 page paper for Monday. I haven't even started because I'm having trouble understanding the assignment. I don't want you to do it for me, but here's the question:

"Constitutions necessarily give rise to, and require, a dialectical relationship between law and politics, between courts and political actors. Agree or disagree."

What does "dialectical" mean? My google-fu fails me in this context. I know is has to do with a dialogue, but do they mean an adversarial one in which one comes out on top, or an ongoing exchange?

Can you translate this into less awkward wording? I think it's trying to say that a constitution sets up an ongoing conflict between the judges who guard it and the other political bodies who want to fracture it, but I'm not sure. Wikipedia has been no help.

Oxford–Hachette French English Dictionary Online?

fantasticninety — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 10:03:39 -0800

Is the Oxford–Hachette French English dictionary properly available online if you live outside of France? My google fu is lacking. Could someone include a link to where one can subscribe to the online version of the Oxford–Hachette French–English dictionary online?

I use the Cambridge French English dictionary online but there are far too many words that they don't have listed. I would be open to a different dictionary if it really was as comprehensive as the Oxford–Hachette, which for my PC is incredible.

Also, for bonus points, is it possible to buy a version of this dictionary for the Mac?

make bigger dictionary/thesaurus in Word

cogneuro — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 08:01:43 -0800

Simple q: a way to supplement the dictionary/thesaurus in, ugh, MS Word, Macintosh, to extend its vocabulary and synonym choices? I don't want to have to pop out of word to go look elsewhere. I just want the built in dictionary/thesaurus enlarged. I know there have been N previous queries about dictionaries but I didn't see anything about this specific issue. thanks.

The best in ESL dictionaries / thesauri

Paragon — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:28:01 -0800

What is the best advanced learner's dictionary? Best advanced learner's thesaurus? I'm looking for recommendations for advanced learner's dictionaries and thesauri, aimed at university-level ESL students (here that means IELTS 6.0+ or TOEFL 550+).

I'm aware of Cambridge online, and have copies of the Collins and Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionaries, but have no idea about the most effective learner's thesauri: Oxford, Chambers, something else?

Personal experiences from ESL teachers or learners most welcome.

script dictionary

pita — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 17:40:09 -0800

I need a script that will extract from a dictionary all words that contain a certain set of letters. e.g: "a", "b", e" should return "abe", "babe", "a" etc. I know this is trivial in perl: however I want the biggest dictionary I can get my hands on, not just the default on linux. So I guess my question has two parts: can you please point me to this script and also point me to the biggest free dictionary in one or all of these scripts: roman, cyrillic, greek. This possibly has been implemented as a website. Which website?

Dictionary term for tiny orange slices?

Etta Hollis — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 11:03:47 -0800

WordFilter: Is there a word/term for the tiny slices of oranges that are found between the regular sized slices? Grandma Hollis calls them "Santa Clauses." Does an actual dictionary term exist?

At only 100 words a year wouldn't English have dwindled to nothing by now?

Ookseer — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:22:01 -0800

Is the English language stagnating or do dictionaries just suck? Every year we're momentarily fascinated by the press releases that come out of publishing companies touting the new words added to the dictionary and we pause and think "My, how the times have changed"

Except they only seem to be adding 100 words or so a year (according to the same press releases). Considering the number of words in English (hundreds of thousands), the relative youth of the language (what 800 years?) and words falling out of use, one hundred new words annually doesn't seem to begin to account for all the words we have.

The following possible answers have occurred to me:
- English is stagnating. (Hard to believe given the exciting new places it's been employed lately.)
- Dictionaries aren't particularly authoritative.
and / or
- One should not get lexographic information from press releases.

Can the applied knowledge of MeFi Wordsmiths shed any more light?

French-English dictionary, svp

Solon and Thanks — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 13:09:06 -0800

Need recommendations for a quality French-English electronic dictionary. I'm going to be studying abroad in France soon, taking fairly advanced classes. Normal dictionaries are too large and heavy to be useful while traveling, and the pocket-sized ones are useless at this level of French. I'd like to find a good French-English electronic portable dictionary, and would be willing to spend up to about (and hopefully less than) 125 USD.

Any recommendations on ones to check out or avoid?

(This question was not helpful.)

Encyclopedia of 19th C literature

stbalbach — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 22:02:52 -0800

What is a good encyclopedia / dictionary for 19th and/or 20th century literature? For 19th I've found A guide to the best fiction in English (1913) but it's very old. For 20th, I often use Martin Seymour-Smith's The New Guide to Modern World Literature (scroll down to "A Modest Proposal" for a description) and would love to have something like it for the 19th century. Open to other suggestions for 20th century literature encyclopedia or dictionaries.

Some sort of database for translations?

Xere — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 16:34:17 -0800

Is there any sort of freeware program (online, installed on computer, php, mysql, anything) for me to save phrases in English, and then their translation in a certain language? In some kind of tidy, tabled format? I tried a wiki but I quickly tired of formatting each entry in order to produce a tidy table. Ideally, I'd like to be able to just plug in the phrases and go.

Synergetics Dictionary, Where?

goalyeehah — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 22:01:54 -0800

Where can I find a copy of Synergetics Dictionary? This was a 4 volume dictionary compiled by E.J. Applewhite of terminology and language used by R. Buckminster Fuller. I believe it was published in the early 1980's. I would like to purchase a copy of it for my own collection. Cannot find it through Amazon.

"Taalontwikkelingsstoornissen." Gee, where does the stress fall?

softsantear — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:33:54 -0800

Is there an online Dutch dictionary that shows diacritical marks for the pronunciation and stress of the word? It could be DU-DU, or DU-EN, though I suppose I prefer the latter.
E.g., sites like The Free Dictionary do this for English.

To reiterate, I'm mainly concerned with where the stress falls on words. I'm developing an intuition about some words, but for some I feel like it could go either way. Also, I'd like to be able to double-check to see if a vowel is short or long. Something using IPA, maybe?

I have a paper EN-DU dictionary that has pronunciation guides in IPA, but I'm trying to stave off the need to buy a proper Dutch-English dictionary just yet.

Boot to the head . . . in Spanish

Joleta — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 19:41:37 -0800

Looking for an English-Spanish martial arts glossary. I can't seem to find an online English-Spanish martial arts glossary or dictionary. Mr. Joleta has several Spanish-speaking students in his taekwondo class and would like to communicate better with them. Does anyone know of an online list (or a book he could buy) that will help specifically with common terms used in the martial arts? He'd like to be able to say things like "Move your left foot forward" as well as have translations for kick, punch, front, side, roll, various parts of the body, etc. He doesn't need to say things like "front snap kick" in Spanish, though, as there are already a perfectly good Korean terms that everyone learns regardless of their native language.

Help My Blackberry Speak German

foxy_hedgehog — Fri, 16 May 2008 10:08:27 -0800

I'd like to get a German dictionary/language program for my Blackberry Curve. Any recommendations or caveats? I only know what you can see on the first page of a google search

I'd be grateful for any expert witnesses.

Smallest Number of Words To Be Deemed A Dictionary?

vanoakenfold — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:59:13 -0800

LogosFilter: Could a blog entry that contains two words and their definitions be consistent with the definition of a dictionary? In looking up with word dictionary, I most often find something along the lines of "a collection of words.." as far as quantity, but nothing further than that besides "a selection of words" or "a list of words" which to me would be at minimum, two. Is two of something a collection? How many of something must one have before it is deemed a collection?

I need to brush up on my Spanish.

greta simone — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 08:07:14 -0800

I need recommendations for the best Spanish review/dictionary. Hi all. I'm going to be going to Guatemala for five weeks on a service learning program. I will be taking language courses there and I have a really basic knowledge of Spanish at this point. What I am looking for is a good book that includes both a review of grammar and a useful Spanish-English dictionary. I want to be able to review grammar in the weeks before I go, and have a dictionary to carry around with me when I get there. I would prefer this book to be travel-sized (small paperback) so it can fit in my bag, but as comprehensive as a small book can be. I went to the local Barnes and Noble, but the Spanish section was huge and overwhelming. I would like to narrow my search a little- please help!
Thanks-