Dictionary & thesaurus

φ includes an offline dictionary so you can check a word's meaning — or find a better one — without leaving the page or going online. It works the way an e-reader's dictionary does: you install dictionary packs, and lookups happen entirely on your computer.

Looking up a word

There are three ways to look something up:

• From a selection — select a word in the editor and click the book icon in the bubble toolbar.
• From the command — press ⌘⇧D, or open the command palette (⌘P) and choose Open dictionary. This opens the Dictionary panel no matter which right-panel tab you were on — handy when you want to check a word before you write it.
• From the search box — with the Dictionary panel open, type any word and press Enter.

Results show the definition and, where the dictionary provides them, synonyms. Click any cross-reference or synonym in a definition to look that word up in turn — navigation stays inside the panel.

Inflected words

You don't have to type the exact dictionary form. Look up running, changes, or cities and φ will find run, change, and city. Many dictionaries also carry their own list of alternate forms, which φ uses automatically — so for a Spanish dictionary, corriendo resolves to correr.

Installing a dictionary

φ reads the widely-used StarDict format. To add one:

1. Download a dictionary pack — good free sources are freedict.org and wikdict.com. For English definitions with synonyms, a WordNet StarDict pack works well.
2. Unzip it. You'll get a folder containing files such as .ifo, .idx, and .dict (sometimes compressed as .idx.gz or .dict.dz — both are fine).
3. In φ, open Settings (⌘,) → Editor → Dictionary & Thesaurus → Install dictionary pack…, and select the folder.

The pack appears in the list immediately and is ready to use. You can install as many as you like — lookups search all of them, and results are labeled with their source.

Languages

Because packs are just files you choose, φ isn't limited to English. Install a monolingual Spanish or French dictionary to look up words in that language, or a bilingual pack (for example English→Spanish) to translate as you write.

Managing packs

In Settings → Editor → Dictionary & Thesaurus you'll see every installed pack with its word count. Remove one with the trash icon. A dictionary that shipped with φ is marked Built-in and is kept in place.

Privacy

Everything here is local. Installed dictionaries are stored in φ's application data folder, and no lookup ever touches the network.