<p>I recommend <a href="http://pali.sirimangalo.org/" rel="nofollow">the Digital Pali Reader</a> (a browser extension for Firefox and <a href="https://www.palemoon.org/" rel="nofollow">Pale Moon</a>).</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-02T10:07:06.723Z
2015-10-02T10:37:48.897Z
2015-10-02T10:37:48.897Z
labaleine
<p>I found this one, which seems to aggregate answers from several different dictionaries. Still a LOT of words missing from the Dhammapada (which I'm working on adapting) but a very useful resource for trying to pick apart Pali texts:</p>

<p><a href="http://dictionary.sutta.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://dictionary.sutta.org/</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-22T15:03:10.127Z
2018-01-22T15:03:10.127Z
jerclarke
<p>For Sanskrit I use <a href="http://spokensanskrit.de/" rel="nofollow">http://spokensanskrit.de/</a> and for Pali <a href="http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/" rel="nofollow">http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-02T13:46:28.577Z
2015-10-02T13:46:28.577Z
Andriy Volkov
<p>Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism is another source. <a href="http://www.international.ucla.edu/institute/article/149341" rel="nofollow">http://www.international.ucla.edu/institute/article/149341</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-02T23:54:30.853Z
2015-10-02T23:54:30.853Z
ramana_k
<p><a href="http://www.wisdomlib.org/" rel="nofollow">Wisdom Library</a> is one of the most reliable. E.g. <a href="http://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/samma-samadhi/index.html" rel="nofollow">Samma Samadhi</a>.</p>

<p>Also <a href="http://www.accesstoinsight.org/" rel="nofollow">Access To Insight</a> has a glossary.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-02T09:25:37.773Z
Other than this, is that have some official website like that?
Le Parkour
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-02T09:26:57.753Z
There cannot be any "Official" as there is no authority to decide which is official.
Suminda Sirinath S. Dharmasena
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-02T09:20:58.733Z
2015-10-02T09:28:19.533Z
2015-10-02T09:28:19.533Z
Suminda Sirinath S. Dharmasena
<p>I've tried <a href="http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">the PTS Pali-English dictionary</a> (for Pali).</p>

<p>There's a trick to using it though.</p>

<ul>
<li>Enable <code>Search entry words only (not definitions)</code></li>
<li>Type in the word you're looking for e.g. <code>Samadhi</code></li>
</ul>

<p>When you search it may not find the result. So:</p>

<ul>
<li>Also select <code>Words starting with  (Example: bud)</code></li>
<li>Type in fewer (just the first few) letters of the word you're looking for e.g. <code>Sama</code></li>
</ul>

<p>This may display <a href="http://dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/search3advanced?dbname=pali&amp;query=sama&amp;searchdomain=headwords&amp;matchtype=start&amp;display=utf8" rel="nofollow noreferrer">several results</a> -- hopefully you can find the word you're looking for on this list (maybe <a href="http://dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.3:1:3317.pali" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Samatha</a> in this case).</p>

<p>This searching for a prefix (instead of for the full word) if often necessary, because Pali words have declensions and conjugations when they're used in sentences, which alters their suffixes.</p>

<hr>

<p>I think that samadhi versus samatha (used in the example above) is a difference between Sanskrit and Pali.</p>

<p>The fact remains, however, that when looking for Pali words in the PTS dictionary it's often necessary to search for the prefix.</p>

<p>Another reason why that's so is, I think, that Pali words are joined together (like in German). Look at <a href="https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/a/8493/254">this answer</a> for example (which uses the <a href="http://pali.hum.ku.dk/cpd/search.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Critical Pali Dictionary</a> instead of the PTS dictionary), which shows for example various words created from <em>ārāma</em>.</p>

<p>I note that <em>ārāma</em> isn't in the PTS dictionary however <a href="http://dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.0:1:2069.pali" rel="nofollow noreferrer">arañña</a> is &mdash; which is another reason why you may need to look for prefixes (I found it by searching the PTS dictionary for <code>ara</code> after a search for <code>aram</code> found no results), i.e. that the Latinesque alphabet spelling might not be standardized.</p>

<hr>

<p>Beware that the PTS dictionary requires of you a semi-exact spelling when you do a lookup, for example to find <a href="http://dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.1:1:498.pali" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Kālika</a> you must search for <code>Kālika</code> (and searching for <code>Kalika</code> won't find it).</p>

<hr>

<p>There's also <a href="http://obo.genaud.net/backmatter/glossology/glossologytoc.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this Glossology</a>.</p>

<p>It only lists dhamma-related words (so it's not a full dictionary), but its entries are a bit fuller than the dictionaries'.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-02T19:30:57.423Z
2015-10-02T21:26:07.833Z
2017-04-13T12:51:06.307Z
ChrisW
<p>For <strong>Pali</strong>, I use <a href="http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The Pali Text Society's Pali-English dictionary</a>.</p>

<p>Here are the options I choose for best results (in general) i.e. <em>Search entry words only</em> and <em>Words starting with</em> (as mentioned by ChrisW in his answer)</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/h6wse.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/h6wse.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>For <strong>Sanskrit</strong>, I use <a href="http://www.sanskritdictionary.com" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Sanskrit Dictionary</a> and <a href="http://spokensanskrit.org" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Spoken Sanskrit</a>.</p>

<p>I will even use Wiktionary e.g. for etymological information. In fact, I tend to look up a Pali word, explore its Sanskrit ancestor/relative in the Sanskrit Dictionary and then check etymology in Wiktionary.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-22T15:53:07.840Z
2018-01-22T15:53:07.840Z
Simon H
<p>I believe that there many words translate from Buddha Sutra and I want to ask is there any website can translate the words meaning in English? Example Samman Samadhi</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-03T17:16:37.863Z
I think this is more of a list type question so I'm converting to a wiki. Can always be reverted if people desperately disagree.
Crab Bucket
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-22T15:09:38.727Z
Answers to [this topic](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/18259/254) also contain answers to this question.
ChrisW
<terminology>
Are there any websites that contain Buddhist dictionaries?
# Are there any websites that contain Buddhist dictionaries?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-10-02)

I believe that there many words translate from Buddha Sutra and I want to ask is there any website can translate the words meaning in English? Example Samman Samadhi

**Tags:** terminology

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I think this is more of a list type question so I'm converting to a wiki. Can always be reverted if people desperately disagree.  
> **username_2**: Answers to [this topic](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/18259/254) also contain answers to this question.  

---

## 7 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2015-10-02. Score: 3

I recommend [the Digital Pali Reader](http://pali.sirimangalo.org/) (a browser extension for Firefox and [Pale Moon](https://www.palemoon.org/)).


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2018-01-22. Score: 1

I found this one, which seems to aggregate answers from several different dictionaries. Still a LOT of words missing from the Dhammapada (which I'm working on adapting) but a very useful resource for trying to pick apart Pali texts:

<http://dictionary.sutta.org/>


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2015-10-02. Score: 1

For Sanskrit I use <http://spokensanskrit.de/> and for Pali <http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/>


---

### Answer by username_6 on 2015-10-02. Score: 1

Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism is another source. <http://www.international.ucla.edu/institute/article/149341>


---

### Answer by username_7 on 2015-10-02. Score: 1

[Wisdom Library](http://www.wisdomlib.org/) is one of the most reliable. E.g. [Samma Samadhi](http://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/samma-samadhi/index.html).

Also [Access To Insight](http://www.accesstoinsight.org/) has a glossary.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Other than this, is that have some official website like that?  
> **username_7**: There cannot be any "Official" as there is no authority to decide which is official.  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2015-10-02. Score: 1

I've tried [the PTS Pali-English dictionary](http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/) (for Pali).

There's a trick to using it though.

* Enable `Search entry words only (not definitions)`
* Type in the word you're looking for e.g. `Samadhi`

When you search it may not find the result. So:

* Also select `Words starting with (Example: bud)`
* Type in fewer (just the first few) letters of the word you're looking for e.g. `Sama`

This may display [several results](http://dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/search3advanced?dbname=pali&query=sama&searchdomain=headwords&matchtype=start&display=utf8) -- hopefully you can find the word you're looking for on this list (maybe [Samatha](http://dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.3:1:3317.pali) in this case).

This searching for a prefix (instead of for the full word) if often necessary, because Pali words have declensions and conjugations when they're used in sentences, which alters their suffixes.

---

I think that samadhi versus samatha (used in the example above) is a difference between Sanskrit and Pali.

The fact remains, however, that when looking for Pali words in the PTS dictionary it's often necessary to search for the prefix.

Another reason why that's so is, I think, that Pali words are joined together (like in German). Look at [this answer](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/a/8493/254) for example (which uses the [Critical Pali Dictionary](http://pali.hum.ku.dk/cpd/search.html) instead of the PTS dictionary), which shows for example various words created from *ārāma*.

I note that *ārāma* isn't in the PTS dictionary however [arañña](http://dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.0:1:2069.pali) is — which is another reason why you may need to look for prefixes (I found it by searching the PTS dictionary for `ara` after a search for `aram` found no results), i.e. that the Latinesque alphabet spelling might not be standardized.

---

Beware that the PTS dictionary requires of you a semi-exact spelling when you do a lookup, for example to find [Kālika](http://dsalsrv02.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.1:1:498.pali) you must search for `Kālika` (and searching for `Kalika` won't find it).

---

There's also [this Glossology](http://obo.genaud.net/backmatter/glossology/glossologytoc.htm).

It only lists dhamma-related words (so it's not a full dictionary), but its entries are a bit fuller than the dictionaries'.


---

### Answer by username_8 on 2018-01-22. Score: 0

For **Pali**, I use [The Pali Text Society's Pali-English dictionary](http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/pali/).

Here are the options I choose for best results (in general) i.e. *Search entry words only* and *Words starting with* (as mentioned by username_2 in his answer)

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/h6wse.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/h6wse.png)

For **Sanskrit**, I use [Sanskrit Dictionary](http://www.sanskritdictionary.com) and [Spoken Sanskrit](http://spokensanskrit.org).

I will even use Wiktionary e.g. for etymological information. In fact, I tend to look up a Pali word, explore its Sanskrit ancestor/relative in the Sanskrit Dictionary and then check etymology in Wiktionary.


---

