Skimming with head shows what fun lies herein. Is still a sizable corpus: $ wc /usr/share/dict/words Symlinked to words is the web2 word list,
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On macOS, these can be found at /usr/share/dict: $ ls /usr/share/dict Here’s a look at the ways and means by whichĬomputers give meaning to the world through words,Ī small collection newline-delimited list of words. Spell check, grammar check, and auto-correct toĪuto-summarization and semantic analysis. Though widely usurped of their ‘go-to reference’ status by the Internet,ĭictionaries and word lists serve an important roleīehind the scenes for features ranging from Semantic overlap with hashing functions and cryptographic digests?Īnything’s better than “associative arrays”, I suppose… Why can’t we just settle on Hash, like those nice Ruby folks? No, not the Dictionary / NSDictionary / CFDictionary Refīut rather those distant lexicographic vestiges of school days past.īut seriously, why are dictionaries called that, anyway? The poor, neglected app has a lot to offer.This week’s article is about dictionaries. I hope this inspired you to poke around Dictionary a bit. This is hugely nit-picky and nerdy, but there it is. When you do this, you’re adding to the spell checker’s database, not Dictionary. You can add your own terms to this spell checker so that it won’t flag you has having made an error when you type a word like “ Elliphant” for example.
![where is the dictionary database for mac dictionary app where is the dictionary database for mac dictionary app](https://miro.medium.com/max/3000/1*LY-lgEWzIZg9HRju1CuxdQ.png)
In addition to the dictionary, your Mac has a universal spell checker application that bugs you when you make a typo.
![where is the dictionary database for mac dictionary app where is the dictionary database for mac dictionary app](https://eshop.macsales.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/big-sur-dictionary-icon512.png)
There’s a common misconception I ought to address here. It’s very helpful and much more convenient than calling your nephew who’s a whiz at this stuff. This goes for all sorts of terms and concepts you’ll find while using your Mac. Simply launch Dictionary, select Apple as the source and enter those terms to receive concise explanations. For example, let’s say you’re learning to use Garageband, Apple’s music-editing software, and terms like “scrubber bar” and “loop” are new.
Where is the dictionary database for mac dictionary app software#
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You can select which source(s) Dictionary uses and order the results according to your own preference. Or, if you’re really concerned about not losing your place, right-click on the new term and select “Look up in new window.”Īs of version 2.2.1, there are twenty-two reference sources available, including options for American English, British English, Japanese, simplified Chinese, German, Russian, Dutch and more. When you’re done, hit the back button to go right back to where you were. Let’s say you’re reading an entry and get stuck on a word you haven’t seen before. In my experience, it’s remarkably successful at this.Īlmost every word is clickable. When you’re typing a word into the search field, and you really mess up the spelling, Dictionary ignores the error and finds the word you’re after. What’s coolĭictionary does its best to ignore your errors. Today it boasts even more sources of information for you to peruse. Six years later, OS X Lion was released, and Dictionary was updated to include Third Edition of the New Oxford American Dictionary and the British Oxford Dictionary of English. When the software was new, it provided definitions from the New Oxford American Dictionary, as well as information from these sources: A little historyĪpple introduced its dictionary app, simply called Dictionary, with OS X 10.4 Tiger. In this post I’ll highlight useful things Dictionary can do. But don’t be fooled, Dictionary is super cool and helpful. That privilege is reserved for Dictionary’s bigger siblings, like Mail and Safari. Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering, doesn’t show it off during press events. Apple’s Dictionary app for the Mac isn’t sexy.