File README.DIC
To accompany the GNU version of the set of files (cide.*) containing
the electronic version of the
Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
(called also GCIDE)
These files contain Version 0.43 (June 2000)
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The dictionary was derived from the
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
Version published 1913
by the C. & G. Merriam Co.
Springfield, Mass.
Under the direction of
Noah Porter, D.D., LL.D.
and has been supplemented with some of the definitions from
WordNet, a semantic network created by
the Cognitive Science Department
of Princeton University
under the direction of
Prof. George Miller
and is being proof-read and supplemented by volunteers from
around the world. This is an unfunded project, and future
enhancement of this dictionary will depend on the efforts of
volunteers willing to help build this free resource into a
comprehensive body of general information. New definitions
for missing words or words senses and longer explanatory notes,
as well as images to accompany the articles are needed. More
modern illustrative quotations giving recent examples of
usage of the words in their various senses will be very
helpful, since most quotations in the original 1913 dictionary
are now well over 100 years old.
This electronic version is being maintained by World Soul,
a non-profit organization in Plainfield, NJ. For additional
information or if you are willing to assist construction of this
data source, contact:
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Patrick J. Cassidy | TEL: (908) 561-3416
World Soul | if no answer, (908) 668-5252
735 Belvidere Ave. | FAX: (908) 668-5904
Plainfield, NJ 07062-2054
pc@worldsoul.org or cassidy@micra.com
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GCIDE is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
any later version.
GCIDE is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this copy of GCIDE; see the file COPYING. If not, write
to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330,
Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
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STRUCTURE OF THE DICTIONARY
---------------------------
When the archives are unpacked, the main dictionary text of
the GCIDE will be found in 26 files named "cide.*", where the
asterisk indicates which letter of the alphabet begins the
words in each file. For example, file "cide.b" contains words
beginning with the letter "B". Additional information about the
tagging conventions and special character symbols are contained in
ancillary files in this directory more information below). The main
body of the 1913 dictionary was essentially identical to the edition
published in 1890, and was republished in 1913 with an appendix
containing "New Words". The new words of that appendix have been
integrated into the main file in this version. However, it is important
to keep in mind that the definitions in this dictionary are in most
cases over 100 years old. Use them with caution!
At the bottom of each paragraph in this dictionary, there is a
bracketed and tagged "source" indicated. This tells from where the
definition or other text in that paragraph came, as follows:
[]
= From the original 1890 dictionary.
[]
= From the 1913 "New Words" supplement to the Webster.
[]
= From the WordNet on-line semantic network.
[]
= From the Century Dictionary published in 1906, especially from
the "proper Names" supplement (volume IX).
published
[]
= Added by one of the volunteers.
The original definitions have been tagged and in some cases
reformatted or slightly rearranged. If substantive information
is added from a second source, usually the additional source is
also noted, as in:
[ + ]
A list of the ancillary files related to the GCIDE is appended at
the bottom of this "readme.dic" file.
This version is tagged with SGML-like tags of the form
...
do *not* always nest properly with certain other tags, such as...
tags. The unusual characters (such as Greek or the European accented characters, as well as special characters used in the pronunciations) are described in the accompanying file "webfont.asc". Some information on the pronunciation system used may be found by viewing the files "wxxvii.gif" and "pronunc.gif" with a GIF viewer (or any web browser), and additional explanations of pronunciation are in the file "pronunc.web". Each paragraph of the original text is enclosed within tags of the form. . .
. Within these paragraphs are no line breaks, and some of the paragraphs are over 12,000 characters long. These lines are too long to be handled by the vi editor, and probably by some other text editors. At some points, embedded line breaks within a "paragraph" are marked by aillustrative quotation -- in block quote formatauthor of an illustrative quotationalternative name for the headword -- essentially a synonym alternative spelling of the headword list of synonyms for the headword paragraph bold type
italic type For other tags, see the file "tagset.web" ============================================================ OTHER VERSIONS OF THE DICTIONARY ============================================================= There are several other derivative versions of this dictionary on the internet, in some cases reformatted or provided with an interface. Those that I am aware of are: (1) Project Gutenberg --------------------- In the extext96 directory of Project Gutenberg (www.prairienet.org) there is a version of the original 1913 dictionary, which is in the **public domain**. The main files are in the directory etext96, and sre labeled pgw050**.***. The tags for that version are a subset of those used in this GNU version. (2) The DICT development group ------------------------------ This group has created a program to index and search this dictionary. The program can be downloaded and used locally, but at present is available only in a Unix-compatible executable version. See their web site at http://www.dict.org. (3) The University of Chicago ARTFL project --------------------------------------------- Mark Olsen and Gavin LaRowe at the University of Chicago have converted the original 1913 dictionary to HTML and have provided an interface allowing search of the headwords. When the supplemented version has developed sufficiently to warrant the effort, a similar searchable version may be posted there as well. The search page is at: http://humanities.uchicago.edu/forms_unrest/webster.form.html That page will provide links to other ARTFL projects and contact information for the ARTFL group, who alone can provide information about the HTML version or interface. -- PJC