You probably know about the define: operator in Google that helps you find the definition of a word or an entire phrase from various online sources – see example.
Google’s dictionary service supports translation as well
Well, that’s one way to lookup definitions on Google. They also maintain a multilingual dictionary search page at google.com/dictionary where you can not only look for word meaning but also hear the audio pronunciation of a word or translate it into different languages.
The service initially launched as part of Google Translate but is now a separate service with an easy to remember address. Definitely worth bookmarking.
And it may not be long before Google delinks the answers.com links from their search page and start linking to their own dictionary pages since the two have a lot in common. Thanks Abhishek.
Related: Live English Dictionary
Find this article at: http://www.labnol.org/internet/online-google-dictionary/5942/
Tags: Archives, dictionary, google, language translation, pronunciation, useful, Internet
Reader Comments
wow! this is really useful for me.. i often do a web search to find the meaning of the word.. and was not even aware of the define keyword in goog search.. and with pronunciation included.. this is a bonus.. thanks for the post :)
Written by Nagaraj Hubli on 12.09.08
I couldn’t find the audio pronunciation on the Google Dictionary Page. (example: link |en&q=esoteric&hl=en) Anyone else care to share an example with the pronunciation.
Written by Indrajeet on 12.09.08
I could not find any pronounciation feature? Am I missing something?
Written by Navjot Singh on 12.09.08
I just looked up fervor and placate, and neither provided the audio pronunciation feature that you described. Am I missing something?
Written by nka on 12.09.08
@indrajeet, @navjot and @nka … to see the pronunciation in action.. select “English to Hindi” from the dropdown.. or any other conversion form.. apart from “English Dictionary”… here is the link link |hi&q=morsel&hl=en&aq=f
Written by Nagaraj Hubli on 12.09.08
Amit, as you said this service was part of Google language tools. google.com/language_tools?hl=EN
I feel the language tool was even better, as it can translate the phrase and paragraph!
Written by Manivannan Palanichamy on 12.09.08
Currently only Hindi conversion avaialble in indian languages. Hope Google will provide support for Temil and Telugu conversion soon.
Written by Dutt on 12.09.08
Try this for pronunciation
google.com/dictionary?aq=f&langpair=en|hi&q=chrysanthemum&hl=en
Thanks
Written by Rajinder Singh on 12.09.08
Good find Amit! I’ve been using Google Translate and Shtooka for a long time, but this is an interesting alternative. In reference to those looking for spoken pronunciation, it looks like this is only available for some of the words listed. See below:
link
The pronunciations are available, you just have be lucky with the word for which you’re searching.
The SWAC Language Collections, which are continuously growing, also show pronunciations. It doesn’t, however, include either ‘esoteric’ nor ‘fervor/fervour’, though does give ‘placate’.
link
Oddly, I would consider their (Betsy Megas’s Californian) pronunciation incorrect, with the stress in the ‘wrong’ half of the word. Mine is an UK English ear though, so perhaps some US readers might confirm the SWAC pronunciation.
Written by Patrick on 12.10.08
Anyone evr tried Hyperwords in Mozilla FF3 ??
You dont have to move to new tab or even refresh the current tab, just select the text and mouse-over to custom dictionary.Those might wanna give it try get it at link
Written by Rohan on 12.10.08
This is a pretty informative post. I use google define operation many times before using this dictionary.
Written by Phao Loo on 12.10.08
Try link .. it’s also a nice dictionary which provide some tips to remember words.
Written by Rahul on 12.10.08
Useful! Never saw that one coming!
Written by Vikas on 12.10.08
This feature is already built in google.com
Try this in google search define:YOUR WORD
Written by sat on 12.11.08
Amit do you really think this is a dictionary?
I think its just an aggregated service that takes definitions from N number of other sites?
Don’t you think?
Written by Venkatesh Varalu on 12.11.08