Dictionary Building Resources
Dictionary Craft Tools
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
Corpus & Usage Research
- Google Books Ngram Viewer — Google Ngram Viewer — Track historical frequency of words.
- COCA (Corpus of Contemporary American English) — english-corpora.org/coca — Modern American English usage patterns.
- British National Corpus — english-corpora.org/bnc — British English usage data.
- Sketch Engine — sketchengine.eu — Advanced corpus querying tool.
Etymology Research
- 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
- IPA Chart — ipa chart
- Forvo — forvo.com — Crowdsourced pronunciation recordings.
- Wiktionary Audio Archives — commons pronunciation files
Frequency & Register Checking
- Word Frequency Lists — wordfrequency.info
- Google Scholar — scholar.google.com — Academic register reference.
- Project Gutenberg — gutenberg.org — Literary corpora for historical usage.
Example Sentence Craft
Sentence Mining Communities
- r/SentenceMiners (Reddit)
- c/SentenceMiners (Lemmy)
🧠 Neologism Design
Coining new words requires discipline, not whimsy.
Neologism Communities
- Reddit neologismhelp
- Lemmy neologismhelp
- Linguistics forums
Principles of Sound Coinage
- Morphological consistency
- Transparent affix use
- Etymological plausibility
- Phonetic elegance
- Semantic necessity
A good neologism fills a gap. A great neologism feels inevitable.
📚 Recommended Dictionaries & Glossaries
MorDictionary respects tradition while refusing to be boring.
General Dictionaries
- 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.
🏛 Collaborative Lexicography
Dictionary-making is no longer confined to ivory towers.
It is communal.
- Wiktionary (open lexicography)
- Community glossaries
- Language preservation projects
- Personal lexicographic blogs
MorDictionary encourages participation, experimentation, and preservation.
📜 Philosophy
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
MorDictionary — A project of the Moribund Institute.