DICT(7) DICT(7)
NAME
dict - dictionary browser
SYNOPSIS
dict [ -k ] [ -d dictname ] [ -c command ] [ pattern ]
DESCRIPTION
Dict is a dictionary browser. If a pattern is given on the
command line, dict prints all matching entries; otherwise it
repeatedly accepts and executes commands. The options are
-d dictname Use the given dictionary. The default is oed,
the second edition of the Oxford English Dic-
tionary. A list of available dictionaries is
printed by option -d?.
-c command Execute one command and quit. The command syn-
tax is described below.
-k Print a pronunciation key.
Patterns are regular expressions (see regexp(6)), with an
implicit leading `^' and trailing `$'. Patterns are matched
against an index of headwords and variants, to form a `match
set'. By default, both patterns and the index are folded:
upper case characters are mapped into their lower case
equivalents, and Latin accented characters are mapped into
their non-accented equivalents. In interactive mode, there
is always a `current match set' and a `current entry' within
the match set. Commands can change either or both, as well
as print the entries or information about them.
Commands have an address followed by a command letter.
Addresses have the form:
/re/ Set the match set to all entries matching the regu-
lar expression re, sorted in dictionary order. Set
the current entry to the first of the match set.
!re! Like /re/ but use exact matching, i.e., without case
and accent folding.
n An integer n means change the current entry to the
nth of the current match set.
#n The integer n is an absolute byte offset into the
raw dictionary. (See the A command, below.)
addr+ After setting the match set and current entry
according to addr, change the match set and current
entry to be the next entry in the dictionary (not
necessarily in the match set) after the current
entry.
addr- Like addr+ but go to previous dictionary entry.
The command letters come in pairs: a lower case and the
Page 1 Plan 9 (printed 12/30/24)
DICT(7) DICT(7)
corresponding upper case letter. The lower case version
prints something about the current entry only, and advances
the current entry to the next in the match set (wrapping
around to the beginning after the last). The upper case
version prints something about all of the match set and
resets the current entry to the beginning of the set.
p,P Print the whole entry.
h,H Print only the headword(s) of the entry.
a,A Print the dictionary byte offset of the entry.
r,R Print the whole entry in raw format (without translat-
ing special characters, etc.).
If no command letter is given for the first command, H is
assumed. After an H, the default command is p. Otherwise,
the default command is the previous command.
FILES
/lib/oed/oed2
/lib/oed/oed2index
Other files in /lib.
SEE ALSO
regexp(6)
SOURCE
/sys/src/cmd/dict
BUGS
A font with wide coverage of the Unicode Standard should be
used for best results. (Try
/lib/font/bit/pelm/unicode.9.font.)
If the pattern doesn't begin with a few literal characters,
matching takes a long time.
The dictionaries are not distributed outside Bell Labs.
Page 2 Plan 9 (printed 12/30/24)