I have dialup only and often not even that! So please keep that in mind.

I need an english language dictionary
-- It must give definitions.
-- It must reside entirely locally on my computer once installed
-- It must require no internet connection once it is installed

-- I run
-- -- Ubuntu 8.04
-- -- Kernel 2.6.24-16 generic
-- -- Gnome 2.22.1
-- -- Dell Studio 1535 laptop
-- -- with approx 200 GiB disk space remaining

I am frustrated because all my search attempts bury me in so called dictionaries that suffer from one or more of the following:
== dual or multi language lookups for translation & lack definitions
== only work with an active internet connections

And if I could get a dictionary combined with encyclopedia or an encyclopedia to accompany the dictionary, that would solve my next acquisition problem.

Surely someone knows of the dictionary application that I need?

Kdict, Gdict & StarDict all work in offline mode. Simply download the dictionary you require from the StarDict website. Gdict should be available in your repository. Install using Synaptic or from commandline sudo apt-get install gdict.

Thank you for what you have offered, however I think I need a bit more help. All attempts to go to the StarDict site have only led me to attempts to download the StarDict program and not the "gdict" that I was looking for. Regardless of StarDict supposedly having an off line mode, what I see at that site looks like a translation type dictionary that needs internet connection.

Perhaps I am too much of a newbie, but when you say "your repository" I really don't know what you mean. or how I am supposed to access it. Even doing an online search for "gdict" has only buried me in a bunch of irrelevant webpages.

So may I please request a bit more detailed advice.

Thanks in advance

By your repository, I am referring to Synaptic Package Manager. This site is a useful resource for Ubuntu users www.category5.tv. This episode: Episode 88 has a viewer question on a suitable offline dictionary. You will see how gdict is installed and how to add dictionaries.

Aha! I see that my misunderstanding arose from my misunderstanding of the linux jargon that you were using.

Specific Help that I Need:
Can you please inform me as to how to get Synaptic Package Manager to find "gdict".

Explanatory Background:
-- I understood "repository" to mean a place where various applications are accumulated for download by others, that is to say a location on the web somewhere
-- I understood "Synaptic Package Manager" to be an application which resides on the hard disk of my computer which is a convenient way to access various repositories and did not think of it as a "repository" itself.

-- Having assumed that "kdict" is an application designed for use with the KDE interface
-- and that "gdict" is an application designed for use with the gnome interface,
-- and that apparantly "StarDict" is far more sophisticated than I need,
when I looked at Synaptic Package Manager, I could not find "gdict". After your additional assistance I see that Synaptic Package Manager does show both "kdict" and "StarDict" but not "gdict"

I suspect that gdict is in fact the application that I want.

Thanks for your patience with me.







This site is a useful resource for Ubuntu users www.category5.tv. This episode: Episode 88 has a viewer question on a suitable offline dictionary. You will see how gdict is installed and how to add dictionaries.[/QUOTE]

Correct it is. When I said 'Your Repository' I was referring to the repositories available to your Ubuntu system.
You're right Synaptic Package Manager is not a repository, it's just a frontend that allows you to list, add or remove software available from the Ubuntu repositories.
There is nothing 'sophisticated' about Stardict. You install it and add the dictionaries you wish to use.I also looked and agree there is no gdict listed.

You can use the kdict with the Gnome desktop. All that will happen is the required KDE libraries in order to make it run will be installed.

After much searching. You may already have gdict installed. Check under Applications--> Office see if you have a dictionary listed. If not you need to install the gnome-utils package. That package is available via Synaptic Package Manager.

Well, in the attached screen shot which I have annotated:
--
You can see that I have a dictionary within the accessories sub menu. The menu does not give this any name but "dictionary" so I cannot tell if this is "gdict". This one has proven unsatisfactory because it needs internet connection.
--
You can see that Synaptic Package Manager thinks I have gnome-utils installed (I believe that's what the solid green check box means)
--
You can see that "gnome dictionary" (is that the same as "gdict"?) is described as getting its definitions via the internet.

So now I am wondering if gnome-utils has anything to offer me for a suitable dictionary.

Attached Thumbnails

 

That dictionary is gdict (Gnome-dictionary). You're right it cannot be used offline.

Stardict is the one you need. Install it using Synaptic. Then go to here: Dictionaries and download (to your desktop) the dictionary tarball you require. Now start a terminal session.

Type cd Desktop, press enter

now type (this will extract the files into a folder with the same name as the package).

When that is done type: (this will copy the folder and it's contents to the correct location).

As an example, let's suppose you downloaded The Collaborative International Dictionary of English tarball to your desktop. You would see a file named stardict-dictd_www.dict.org_gcide-2.4.2.tar.bz2. Following the instructions above you would do:

you would then see a folder named stardict-dictd_www.dict.org_gcide-2.4.2, you should then type: