Online Dictionaries
This page is a list online English dictionaries.
Google Chrome Browser Dictionary Extension
- Google Dictionary [https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/google-dictionary-by-goog/mgijmajocgfcbeboacabfgobmjgjcoja]
Firefox Extensions
One of Firefox extension i use is QuickWiki. Shift-right-click to lookup a word thru Wiktionary (via pop-up). Control-right-click to lookup Wikipedia. Download at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/quickwiki/
Firefox has other dictionary add-ons. Search it on Firefox addon.
List of Online Dictionaries
Here are some popular dictionary sites and their URL search syntax, using sample word “curlicue”.
- https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=curlicue(AHD 5th edition.)
- https://www.thefreedictionary.com/curlicue (AHD 5th edition.)
- https://dictionary.reference.com/browse/curlicue (Random House, Collins English Dictionary)
- https://www.google.com/search?q=define:+curlicue (Google)
- https://m-w.com/dictionary/curlicue (MWC)
- https://www.ldoceonline.com/search/?q=curlicue (Longman)
- https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/curlicue (Oxford)
- https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/curlicue (Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
- https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/curlicue (wiktionary)
- https://www.dict.org/bin/Dict?Form=Dict2&Database=*&Query=curlicue (1913 Webster, WordNet, …)
- https://www.etymonline.com/word/curlicue (etymology)
- AHD = American Heritage Dictionary.
- WNWC = Webster's New World College Dictionary
- MWC = Merriam Webster abridged.
When choosing a online dictionary, you want one that's fast loading, not many ads, not cluttered, has human voice recording (as opposed to machine pronounced) for many imported words (Bach, fete, sui generis, …), but most of all, contains the definition from a dictionary you like.
Review of Dictionaries
I highly recommend American Heritage Dictionary. Its vocabulary size is larger than all the others online. Its definition is professional and rich. It is not dumbed-down “explanatory” style as in learner's dictionaries, nor is it terse and incomprehensible as in the abridged “Merriem-Webster collegiate”, nor is it “web samples” as in Word Net.
The worst is the Merriem-Webster COLLEGIATE dictionary. It is a abridged dictionary and very popular due to aggressive marketing.
Also, extremely bad is the dictionary bundled with every Mac OS X: New Oxford American Dictionary. It is a “learner's dictionary” and a bad one.
What is Learner's Dictionary?
“Learner's dictionary” is a class of dictionaries that take a explanatory approach. Instead of giving a definition, it simply explains what the word means. This is great if you are a casual reader and simply want to know a word's meaning quickly, but it has several serious problems.
- You won't be able to understand a word unless it is used in the most common way. Because, learner's dictionary usually omits a word's less popular meanings.
- It does not give you any sense at all of the word's connotation, background, etymology. If you are reading a old classic English novel (e.g. Jonathan Swift), or finely-crafted journalism such as Time Magazine articles, learner's dictionary will puzzle and mislead you.
For in-depth review of dictionaries, see:
- American Heritage Dictionary vs Merriam Webster Collegiate
- American Heritage Dictionary vs New Oxford American Dictionary
- 1913 Websters Dictionary and WordNet
- Problems of Open Source Dictionaries
For Emacs
If you are a emacs user, see: Emacs: xah-lookup.el, Lookup the Web