Read docs Updated 2026-06-17
What is Wiktionary?
Wiktionary is a collaborative project that compiles multilingual dictionary data through community contributions.
It supports natural language processing applications, lexicographic research, and language technology development.
What you can build with Wiktionary
Build a multilingual dictionary lookup tool
Query word definitions, pronunciations, and translations across dozens of language editions to power in-app glossaries or browser extensions.
Enhance NLP pipelines with etymology and part-of-speech data
Parse Wiktionary entries to extract lemmas, inflections, and etymological links for training taggers or improving lemmatization models.
Create language learning flashcards with usage examples
Pull real example sentences and synonym lists to generate contextual vocabulary cards for apps or study platforms.
Get started with Wiktionary
- 1Pick a Wiktionary language edition and its MediaWiki API endpoint
- 2Review the available query actions in the API documentation
- 3Construct requests for page content or category listings without authentication
- 4Parse the JSON or XML response to extract definitions and sections
- 5Cache results locally or use database dumps for large-scale processing
Wiktionary: pros & cons
Pros
- +Completely free and open data
- +Extensive multilingual coverage
- +Rich linguistic details including examples and etymologies
- +No authentication required for read access
Cons
- –No dedicated structured REST API; relies on general MediaWiki endpoints
- –Entry quality and formatting can vary between editors
- –Large-scale use often requires downloading full dumps instead of live queries
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Frequently asked questions
A collaborative, open-source multilingual dictionary project run by the Wikimedia Foundation containing definitions, pronunciations, and translations.
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