wiktionary

[tom_scrace]

Salvete,

As my latin journey progresses, I find myself using wiktionary more and more. It seems to be a fantastic and rather unsung resource. I like it for a few reasons:

1. All declined/conjugated forms of a word are indexed. You can search for a word in any tense, case, gender, number etc, and it will find it.
2. It is multilingual. The page for a word has entries for all languages in which the word occurs. This is fascinating for anybody interested in languages.
3. It has etymology notes. Often you can jump back two or three levels by following the links in these sections.

However, like all things wiki, I find myself wondering about accuracy and reliability. Does anybody have any opinions to share on this question?

Many thanks,
Tom

[swtwentyman]

I've found it to be a great help, though sometimes it doesn't reflect as full a range of a word as a dictionary will; I personally find it more convenient just to have one handy to flip through (I find getting my phone, going to the site, and typing the words to be an intrusive chore, and I prefer to flip through books to begin with) but if I encounter a reduplicated perfect I haven't come across I go straight to Wiktionary.

It's a good skill to be able to figure out the dictionary forms of words, though; Wiktionary doesn't necessarily retard that but you can overlook it if you overrely on looking up the declined/conjugated forms.

Ed: in short the site is useful but not a replacement for a good dictionary, which will flesh out the entries with examples and will have more in-depth entries than the simple glosses of Wiktionary.

[tom_scrace]

Yes, I'm quite sure you're right. Thanks. I am yet to invest in a latin dictionary. I suppose I should just take the plunge and get the OLD. It's not cheap though!

My current mode of study with Adler is to be at my desk with the PDF scan in front of me on the computer, so it's tremendously convenient just to flip to wiktionary to look things up.

[swtwentyman]

I'd recommend Charlton Lewis' Elementary Latin Dictionary for everyday use. It's small and convenient -- and much cheaper -- and I've rarely needed anything more; you can get a cheap copy on AbeBooks or Amazon. The OLD is probably overkill.

[Ronolio]

Also useful is the Latin Lexicon online (nicknamed Numen). Of particular use is the word study tool, into which you can enter the words in any form and multiple words at a time. One problem with it though is its ordering of meanings. It doesn't seem to follow the dictionary standard of most common meaning first followed by less common meanings.

[tom_scrace]

Excellent; thanks. The word study tool is wonderful. I had not come across it before.

Thanks for the dictionary recommendation swtentyman. I may well pick up a copy of that soon. Perhaps I'll save the OLD for later in my classical career.

Tom

[ThatLanguageGuy]

I've used wiktionary much and William Whitaker's Words. I thought that they were both good but Whitaker is a dictionary/parser. I'm like everyone here though. I used Wiktionary much more.

[hlawson38]

I often use Traupman's student dictionary. It's cheap, available in Barnes & Noble bookstores, small, and light. The well-chosen examples are translated into English, and there are handy inflection tables. I've worn out several copies--lost count after two.

Here is a link to the Amazon description:

http://tinyurl.com/zb8ajbe