Dictionary lookup
nabu_defineLook up a lemma across local lexica in many languages, returning headword, gloss, structured entry body, and citations; filter by language, facets, or entry limit.
Instructions
Look up a lemma (dictionary form) in the dictionary shelves nabu holds locally — hundreds of lexica across many languages (LSJ, Lewis & Short, Bosworth-Toller, the Wiktionary extracts, and far more; the lang enum in this schema is the LIVE set of shelf languages, nabu_status counts the entries). The Wiktionary RECONSTRUCTION shelves (*-pro codes) are included: a LEADING ASTERISK scopes to reconstructions (*bogъ), whose entries also list their descendant reflexes with corpus attestation counts (nabu_etym walks the same crosswalk from an attested lemma). Diacritics optional (μηνις finds μῆνις); lang picks a shelf language when the spelling is ambiguous. Each entry carries headword, dictionary, license fields (PRESERVE them when quoting), a short gloss, the entry body as structured plain text (senses labeled; bounded at 6000 chars with an honest note — the CLI nabu define is unbounded), and the entry's citations: where the cited work is in the local catalog the citation carries a resolved passage urn (open it with nabu_show); otherwise resolved_urn is null and the display text stands. A PRINT citation of a reference work (a BDB page, a Wb volume/page/line, a Holder AcS volume/column) may carry scan: status (anchored/held/uncalibrated/out_of_range/not_held/unconfigured), urn (the held scan's page passage or document — null when not held), leaf, pointer. Entries may carry crossrefs — pointers to other entries, usually of the same dictionary, sometimes of another (the Strong shelf's BDB ids) (kind, label verbatim, resolved_urn of the target entry or null — open it with nabu_show). Bounded (default 3 entries, max 10; homographs are separate entries). The owner's own notes on an entry ride along in notes — useful curatorial context.
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| lang | No | Dictionary language. The enum (when present) is the LIVE set of shelves this catalog holds — e.g. grc → LSJ, lat → Lewis & Short, ang → Bosworth-Toller (Old English), chu → Wiktionary (Old Church Slavonic), *-pro → the Wiktionary reconstruction shelves. | |
| lect | No | Restrict to shelves whose (language, source) RESOLUTION is this lect id or a more specific one under it (P59-3, nabu-lects module; dictionary grain — per-source overrides included, so derom's la-vul scopes under roa, never lat). Errors if the module is not synced on this box. | |
| lemma | Yes | Dictionary form to look up (e.g. λόγος, virtus). | |
| limit | No | Maximum entries returned. | |
| facets | No | Entry facet filters, an object of facet name → pattern, all required (AND) — the categorical labels dictionaries attach per entry: JMdict's domain / usage / dialect / loan_source, WOLD's semantic_field / word_class / borrowed_status, TLS's concept. {"domain": "Buddhism"} keeps only Buddhist-domain senses. The pattern matches the value or its ref case-insensitively; LIKE % patterns pass through. At most 8 pairs; untagged entries fall out. | |
| include_restricted | No | Also serve research_private/restricted material. Default false and deliberately so: this surface must never leak private or license-restricted texts casually. Set true only when the requester understands and will honor the restriction. |