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== Entry Construction Tools ==
== Entry Construction Tools ==


=== Corpus & Usage Research ===
== Example Sentence Craft ==


* '''Google Books Ngram Viewer''' — [https://books.google.com/ngrams Google Ngram Viewer] 
=== Sentence Mining Communities ===
  Track historical frequency of words.


* '''COCA (Corpus of Contemporary American English)''' — [https://www.english-corpora.org/coca/ english-corpora.org/coca]
* [https://www.reddit.com/r/SentenceMiners/ r/SentenceMiners] (Reddit)
  Modern American English usage patterns.
* [https://lemmy.world/c/SentenceMiners c/SentenceMiners] (Lemmy)
 
* '''British National Corpus''' — [https://www.english-corpora.org/bnc/ english-corpora.org/bnc] 
  British English usage data.
 
* '''Sketch Engine''' — [https://www.sketchengine.eu/ sketchengine.eu]
  Advanced corpus querying (professional tool).


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=== Etymology Research ===
== Neologism Design ==


* '''Online Etymology Dictionary''' — [https://www.etymonline.com/ etymonline.com] 
=== Neologism Communities ===
  Quick-reference etymology.


* '''Wiktionary''' — [https://www.wiktionary.org/ wiktionary.org] 
* '''Reddit''' — [https://www.reddit.com/r/NeologismsHelp/ r/NeologismsHelp]
  Collaborative etymology chains and multilingual entries.
* '''Lemmy''' — [https://lemmy.world/c/NeologismHelp c/NeologismHelp]
 
* Linguistics forums and word-creation discussion groups
* '''Perseus Digital Library''' — [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/ perseus.tufts.edu]
  Classical Greek and Latin texts.
 
* '''Oxford English Dictionary (OED)''' — [https://www.oed.com/ oed.com] 
  Historical English dictionary (subscription required).
 
* '''Webster’s 1828 Dictionary''' — [https://webstersdictionary1828.com/ webstersdictionary1828.com]
  Early American English reference.


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== Communities Pairing Dictionary Entries with Music ==
* '''Reddit''' — [https://www.reddit.com/r/LexicalSoundtrack/ r/LexicalSoundtrack]


=== Pronunciation Tools ===
== Recommended Dictionaries & Glossaries ==


* '''IPA Chart (International Phonetic Alphabet)''' — [https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/content/full-ipa-chart ipa chart] 
=== General Dictionaries ===


* '''Forvo''' — [https://forvo.com/ forvo.com]
* '''Oxford English Dictionary (OED)''' — [https://www.oed.com/ oed.com]
  Crowdsourced pronunciation recordings.
* '''Merriam-Webster''' — [https://www.merriam-webster.com/ merriam-webster.com]
 
* '''Wiktionary''' — [https://www.wiktionary.org/ wiktionary.org]
* '''Wiktionary Audio Archives''' — [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Pronunciation commons pronunciation category]
* '''Wordnik''' — [https://www.wordnik.com/ wordnik.com]
  Community-recorded pronunciation files.


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=== Frequency & Register Checking ===
=== Specialized & Historical ===
 
* '''Word Frequency Lists''' — [https://www.wordfrequency.info/ wordfrequency.info] 


* '''Google Scholar''' — [https://scholar.google.com/ scholar.google.com]
* '''Green’s Dictionary of Slang''' — [https://greensdictofslang.com/ greensdictofslang.com]
  Academic register reference.
* '''Webster’s 1828 Dictionary''' — [https://webstersdictionary1828.com/ webstersdictionary1828.com]
 
* '''Phrontistery''' — [https://phrontistery.info/ phrontistery.info] — Obscure and rare vocabulary collections
* '''Project Gutenberg''' — [https://www.gutenberg.org/ gutenberg.org]
* '''The Grandiloquent Dictionary''' — [https://www.islandnet.com/~egbird/dict/words.pdf PDF edition] — Unusual and sesquipedalian words
  Literary corpora for historical usage.
* '''Oxford Reference''' — [https://www.oxfordreference.com/ oxfordreference.com] — Subject glossaries (legal, theological, technical, etc.)
* '''A Bunch of Public Domain Dictionaries''' - [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Public_domain_sources Approved Public Domain Sources for Wiktionary]


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== Example Sentence Craft ==
=== Corpus & Usage Research ===


=== Sentence Mining Communities ===
* '''Google Books Ngram Viewer''' — [https://books.google.com/ngrams Google Ngram Viewer] — Track historical frequency of words.
 
* '''COCA (Corpus of Contemporary American English)''' — [https://www.english-corpora.org/coca/ english-corpora.org/coca] — Modern American English usage patterns.
* [https://www.reddit.com/r/SentenceMiners/ r/SentenceMiners] (Reddit)
* '''British National Corpus''' — [https://www.english-corpora.org/bnc/ english-corpora.org/bnc] — British English usage data.
* [https://lemmy.world/c/SentenceMiners c/SentenceMiners] (Lemmy)
* '''Sketch Engine''' — [https://www.sketchengine.eu/ sketchengine.eu] — Advanced corpus querying tool.


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== 🧠 Neologism Design ==
=== Etymology Research ===


Coining new words requires discipline, not whimsy.
* '''Online Etymology Dictionary''' — [https://www.etymonline.com/ etymonline.com] — Quick-reference etymology.
* '''Wiktionary''' — [https://www.wiktionary.org/ wiktionary.org] — Collaborative etymology chains.
* '''Perseus Digital Library''' — [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/ perseus.tufts.edu] — Classical Greek and Latin texts.
* '''Oxford English Dictionary (OED)''' — [https://www.oed.com/ oed.com] — Historical English dictionary (subscription required).
* '''Webster’s 1828 Dictionary''' — [https://webstersdictionary1828.com/ webstersdictionary1828.com] — Early American English reference.


=== Neologism Communities ===
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* Reddit neologismhelp
* Lemmy neologismhelp
* Linguistics forums


=== Principles of Sound Coinage ===
=== Pronunciation Tools ===
* Morphological consistency
* Transparent affix use
* Etymological plausibility
* Phonetic elegance
* Semantic necessity


A good neologism fills a gap.
* '''IPA Chart''' — [https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/content/full-ipa-chart ipa chart]
A great neologism feels inevitable.
* '''Forvo''' — [https://forvo.com/ forvo.com] — Crowdsourced pronunciation recordings.
* '''Wiktionary Audio Archives''' — [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Pronunciation commons pronunciation files]


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== 📚 Recommended Dictionaries & Glossaries ==
=== Frequency & Register Checking ===


MorDictionary respects tradition while refusing to be boring.
* '''Word Frequency Lists''' — [https://www.wordfrequency.info/ wordfrequency.info]
 
* '''Google Scholar''' — [https://scholar.google.com/ scholar.google.com] — Academic register reference.
=== General Dictionaries ===
* '''Project Gutenberg''' — [https://www.gutenberg.org/ gutenberg.org] — Literary corpora for historical usage.
* Oxford English Dictionary
* Merriam-Webster
* Wiktionary
* Wordnik
 
=== Specialized & Historical ===
* Green’s Dictionary of Slang
* Webster’s 1828
* Regional glossaries
* Field-specific glossaries (legal, nautical, theological, technical)
 
Each dictionary has a temperament.
Study their strengths.
Observe their weaknesses.
Avoid their dullness.


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== 🏛 Collaborative Lexicography ==
== Collaborative Lexicography Philosophy ==
 
Dictionary-making is no longer confined to ivory towers.
 
It is communal.


* Wiktionary (open lexicography)
Dictionary-making is no longer confined to ivory towers, but maybe we should try to minimize the slop a smidge. I mean, I love [https://www.urbandictionary.com/ Urban Dictionary], but sometimes it’s a bit much.
* Community glossaries
* Language preservation projects
* Personal lexicographic blogs


MorDictionary encourages participation, experimentation, and preservation.
Let’s have fun, but let’s try to make a functional dictionary at the same time.


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== 📜 Philosophy ==
== Philosophy ==


We oppose boring dictionaries.
We oppose boring dictionaries.

Latest revision as of 08:05, 16 March 2026

Dictionary Craft Tools

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A practical guide for lexicographers, wordsmiths, and neologism architects.

MorDictionary does not merely define words.

We build them. We preserve them. We refine them. We sometimes invent them.

This page collects tools, communities, and reference materials useful for crafting dictionary entries, mining example sentences, and coining neologisms.

Entry Construction Tools

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Example Sentence Craft

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Sentence Mining Communities

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Neologism Design

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Neologism Communities

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Communities Pairing Dictionary Entries with Music

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General Dictionaries

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Specialized & Historical

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Corpus & Usage Research

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Etymology Research

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  • Online Etymology Dictionary — etymonline.com — Quick-reference etymology.
  • Wiktionary — wiktionary.org — Collaborative etymology chains.
  • Perseus Digital Library — perseus.tufts.edu — Classical Greek and Latin texts.
  • Oxford English Dictionary (OED) — oed.com — Historical English dictionary (subscription required).
  • Webster’s 1828 Dictionary — webstersdictionary1828.com — Early American English reference.

Pronunciation Tools

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Frequency & Register Checking

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Collaborative Lexicography Philosophy

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Dictionary-making is no longer confined to ivory towers, but maybe we should try to minimize the slop a smidge. I mean, I love Urban Dictionary, but sometimes it’s a bit much.

Let’s have fun, but let’s try to make a functional dictionary at the same time.

Philosophy

[edit | edit source]

We oppose boring dictionaries.

A dictionary entry should:

  • Inform
  • Contextualize
  • Illuminate
  • Delight

A lexicon is not merely a record. It is a living archive of thought.

See Also

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MorDictionary — A project of the Moribund Institute.

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