In the first of a series about fascinating websites for language lovers, we will take a look at the site Wordnik

Beyond ongoing talk of machine translation, we mustn’t forget that the Internet also boasts a fountain of fun sites for word lovers.

Wordnik is a little like an online dictionary, but with a difference – a lot of differences, actually. For a given word search, it provides not only definitions, but example sentences fresh from the Web, words that show up in the same context, Flickr images tagged with the word… and more.

I just had to try this site out with one of my favorite words: serendipity.

Wordnik first came up with definitions from several sources, including the well-respected American Heritage Dictionary.

It also gave me access to a seemingly endless number of examples of how the word “serendipity” is used on the Web, plus all sorts of bonuses such as a #serendipity Tweetstream, six different examples of pronunciation, and an understandably obscure set of photos from Flickr.

The “words used in the same context” function was a bit of a disappointment, however. The site description points out, intriguingly, that this feature is “not just synonyms and antonyms,” but shows how certain words are used together; for example, “doughnut,” “cheeseburger,” and “milkshake.”

For “serendipity,” however, the word associations seemed totally random.

I’m not at all sure what 5-speed, coagulant, or lotus-flower have to do with serendipity – unless there is some sort of serendipitous connection.

Betty Carlson

See Also

• Language Translation, Inc.
  A leading language translation and interpretation service provider for more than 20 years.