dictionary
UK: ˈdɪkʃənəri | US: ˈdɪkʃəneri
n. a book or electronic resource that lists the words of a language and provides their meanings, pronunciations, origins, or translations.
n. (computing) a data structure that stores values referenced by unique keys.
The word "dictionary" originates from the Latin dictionarium, derived from dictio (meaning "speech" or "word") and the suffix -arium (denoting a place or collection). The root diction reflects its focus on words and language, while -ary signifies a repository or systematic compilation. Over time, it evolved from referring to handwritten glossaries to printed lexicons and now digital databases, maintaining its core function as a curated collection of linguistic knowledge.
She bought a new dictionary to improve her vocabulary.
The online dictionary provides audio pronunciations for each word.
Programmers often use a dictionary to store key-value pairs efficiently.
His essay cited several rare words not found in standard dictionaries.
The teacher asked students to look up the word in a bilingual dictionary.