Dictionary shells
The dictionaries on this site are encoded as database files. To work with them, you’ll first need to load them into a dictionary shell application. Your shell options will vary according to the device you use.
Desktop apps
There are many good dictionary shell options for desktop, and we publish our files in MDict, Slob, StartDict, and XDF for broad compatibility.
If you don’t already have a preferred dictionary shell, we recommend GoldenDict. This free, open-source app works on Windows, Linux, and macOS, and it supports a variety of formats (though we recommend using Slob files from this site). Reliable and easy to use, it’s the best dictionary app we know of for working with Latin.
For information on installing and configuring GoldenDict, see “Quick Start”.
Mobile apps
These options are more limited, in both choice and features. GoldenDict had a mobile version, which is apparently discontinued, as are several other apps that we used to link to. Below is a list of shell apps that should work with our dictionary files:
- Aard 2 (Android) — open source. Supports only Slob files.
- Alpus (Android, iOS) — commercial, with a free version that allows up to 5 active dictionaries. The interface is little more than a seach bar with forward and backward arrows, but it supports many formats. (Use with StarDict or XDXF files from this site.)
You can find more information about mobile dictionary apps in this discussion. If you need a file format that you can’t find on this site, please contact us.