If you are sitting down at your Linux computer system and emotion curious about some term or phrase, you don’t have to bounce up and grab a dictionary. Rather, you can put in the dict command and you are going to probably be amazed by the prosperity of data that will be obtainable to you on the command line.

You will be able to locate several definitions for virtually any expression you ask about, typically with significant depth. Just wanting up the phrase “seven”, I was delivered with 4 definitions. They bundled references to the Pleiades (a star cluster that is also regarded as the “7 Sisters”), a point out of the 7 wonders of the world, scriptural references to the range 7, a take note about how a lot of times are in a week, and an rationalization that 7 is one better than six.

The dict command is just one of the most widely used command-line dictionaries available on Linux and a single of the most much reaching it reaches out to get information from dictionaries that are scattered around the world.

How to use dict to come across definititions

To put in dict, use a command like one particular of the pursuing relying on your Linux distribution:

$ sudo dnf put in dictd
$ sudo apt-get set up dictd

Immediately after putting in dict myself, I employed the command down below to count the number of dictionaries obtainable to me:

$ dict -D | wc -l
167

The output does incorporates a heading, but that’s still a lot of assets. The dict -D command will present the record of dictionaries accessible to you. Here’s the top of the listing introduced when I asked:

$ dict -D | head -11
Databases obtainable:
 gcide          The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v..48
 wn             WordNet (r) 3. (2006)
 moby-thesaurus Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.
 things       The Things (07Nov00)
 vera           V.E.R.A. -- Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms (February 2016)
 jargon         The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003)
 foldoc         The Totally free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018)
 easton         Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
 hitchcock      Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (late 1800's)
 bouvier        Bouvier's Legislation Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)

Just one of the to start with points I requested about was Linux alone. Notice that the definitions involve pronunciations together with the definitions. Observe: The output down below is truncated in various places.

$ dict Linux
3 definitions observed
From WordNet (r) 3. (2006) [wn]:

  Linux
      n 1: an open-supply version of the UNIX working procedure

From The Jargon File (edition 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003) [jargon]:

  Linux
   /lee'nuhks/, /li?nuks/, not, /li:?nuhks/, n.

      The absolutely free Unix workalike made by Linus Torvalds and mates starting up
      about 1991. The pronunciation /li'nuhks/ is most popular due to the fact the name
      ?Linus? has an /ee/ seem in Swedish (Linus's household is element of Finland's
      6% ethnic-Swedish minority) and Linus considers English brief /i/ to be
      closer to /ee/ than English long /i:/. This may be the most extraordinary
      hacker venture in background ? an complete clone of Unix for 386, 486 and
      Pentium micros, dispersed for free of charge with sources around the internet (ports to
      Alpha and Sparc and lots of other devices are also in use).
…


From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018) [foldoc]:

  Linux

      ("Linus Unix") /li'nuks/ (but see down below)
     An implementation of the Unix kernel originally composed
     from scratch with no proprietary code.

     The kernel runs on Intel and Alpha components in the common
     launch, with SPARC, PowerPC, MIPS, ARM, Amiga,
     Atari, and SGI in lively development.  The SPARC, PowerPC,
     ARM, PowerMAC - OSF, and 68k ports all help shells,
     X and networking.  The Intel and SPARC variations have
     dependable symmetric multiprocessing.

     Perform on the kernel is coordinated by Linus Torvalds, who holds
     the copyright on a substantial part of it.  The rest of the
     copyright is held by a large range of other contributors (or
     their companies).  Regardless of the copyright ownerships, the
     kernel as a complete is offered below the GNU Typical Community
     License.  The GNU venture supports Linux as its kernel until
     the analysis Hurd kernel is completed.

…
     A lot more on pronunciation (/pub/misc/linux-pronunciation).

     LinuxHQ (http://linuxhq.com/).  slashdot
     (http://slashdot.org/).  freshmeat (http://freshmeat.net/).
     Woven Items (http://fokus.gmd.de/linux/).  Linux
     Gazette (http://ssc.com/lg).

     funet Linux Archive (ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/Linux), US
     mirror (ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/), United kingdom Mirror
     (ftp://sunsite.doc.ic.ac.united kingdom/offers/Linux/).

     (2000-06-09)

You can also obtain the lots of definitions out there by likely as a result of a browser to dict.org/bin/Dict.

Translating terms with the dict command

In addition to seeking up words or phrases, you use the dict command to translate some text and phrases into some other languages. Here’s an example that interprets from English to French:

$ dict -d fd-eng-fra "thank you"
1 definition located

From English-French FreeDict Dictionary ver. .1.6 [fd-eng-fra]:

  thank you /θæŋkjau/<== pronunciation for "thank you"
  merci

Note that the English pronunciation is provided using the phonetic alphabet. You can find a reference for English phonemes at phonetic chart.

This next example translates “thank you” into German:

$ dict -d fd-eng-deu "thank you"
1 definition found

From English-German FreeDict Dictionary ver. 0.3.7 [fd-eng-deu]:

  thank you /θæŋkjau/
  Danke, danke gleichfalls

The response will depend on whether the sources contain translations for the particular word or phrase you are asking about. Most phrases will likely not be available.

$ dict -d fd-eng-fra "Why not?"
No definitions found for "Why not?"

To list the languages, you can use for translations from English, use this command:

$ dict -D | grep fd-eng-

To view all of the available translation sources, use this command:

$ dict -D | grep fd-

The “fd” appears to stand for “FreeDict”, the source of the translations.

To use a specific server, use -h or --host

$ dict -h dict.org happy
5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Happy Hap"py (h[a^]p"p[y^]), a. [Compar. Happier
     (-p[i^]*[~e]r) superl. Happiest.] [From Hap chance.]
     1. Favored by hap, luck, or fortune lucky fortunate
        successful prosperous satisfying desire as, a happy
        expedient a happy effort a happy venture a happy omen.
        [1913 Webster]
…

To use a specific database, use -d or --database.

$ dict -d elements helium
1 definition found

From The Elements (07Nov00) [elements]:

  helium
  Symbol: He
  Atomic number: 2
  Atomic weight: 4.0026
  Colourless, odourless gaseous nonmetallic element. Belongs to group 18
  of
  the periodic table. Lowest boiling point of all elements and can only be
  solidified under pressure. Chemically inert, no known compounds.
  Discovered in the solar spectrum in 1868 by Lockyer.

Wrap-Up

The Linux dict command can provide a lot of information. Don’t forget to take a look at the man page to explore the many other options that the command provides.