Other (Mostly) Freely Available Dictionary Databases

Here are pointers to other sources of freely available dictionary databases. Note that the license terms of these databases may restrict modification, redistribution, and use. It is your responsibility to read the license and interpret it.

Horst Eyermann's collection of free bilingual dictionaries, available in DICT format.

Skliarouk Peter passed on a copy of Morris Fried's Swahili dictionary database and software. It's all GPL'd, so it is suitable for conversion into a DICT databse.

Volunteer to help type and proofread a public domain version of the 1853 Spiers' Dictionnaire Gèneral Anglais-Français.

This dictionary is based on based on NASA SP-7 (1965). As a US Government publication, it appears to be in the public domain.

This dictionary is copyrighted and is not freely distributable, so it is not currently suitable for use with DICT servers. However, in July 1999, I contacted the author, and he said he'd consider different licensing terms in the future. A raw flat file is also available.

The copyright status of this database is listed differently in different files on the Oxford Text Archive site (some mark it as ``public domain and others as only available for ``scholarly use in private research). More recent information indicates that the database is restricted and should only be used for private research.

(The database is a set or Prolog facts that represent a Collins English Dictionary from the 1970s. It is possible to write a Perl script that will reformat all of the data into entries suitable for use with DICT. I don't have such a Perl script, so don't ask me for it.)

This is Project Gutenberg Release #984 (July 1997) and is available from many places on the net. It contains Irwin L. Gordon's WHO WAS WHO 5000 B. C. to Date: Biographical Dictionary of the Famous and Those Who Wanted to Be, a biographical dictionary from about 1914.

See other databases here.