Browse all our Mac-compatible products. Corel provides several software solutions for digital art, 3D design, file compression, photo management and more. Under Mac OS X Leopard you can use the native dictionary client with your own database of words. This is a recomended workflow replacing Dict OS X: Custom off-line dictionary in Mac Convert Stardict to Apple Mac OS X built-in Dictionary client You can convert any stardict dictionary into the format supported by native Apple Dictionary.app. Dictionary conversion tool for Mac OS X 10.5 and above - iAladdin/DictUnifier.

Dictunifier Dictionary Conversion Tool For Mac Pro

With Dictionary on your Mac, you can easily get definitions of words and phrases from a variety of sources.

Tip: You can also quickly look up words while you’re working in an app or browsing webpages.

You can open Dictionary from Launchpad (click the Launchpad icon in the Dock).

Search for a word or phrase in Dictionary

• In the Dictionary app on your Mac, type a word or phrase in the search field in the upper-right corner of the Dictionary window.

  Note: If you add another Dictionary source, wait for it to download completely before searching for a word or phrase. For information about adding sources, see “Customize Dictionary sources” below.

  While reading the definition, you’ll see links (blue text) to related words. In addition, you can hold the pointer over any word or phrase and click to look up its definition.

  When you look up a word in a definition, a SnapBack button appears in the search field. Click it to return to your starting definition. You can also swipe left or right on your trackpad or click the previous or next button in the toolbar of the Dictionary window to move between definitions you viewed.

Make text smaller or bigger

• In the Dictionary app on your Mac, click the font size buttons in the toolbar of the Dictionary window.

  You can also pinch with two fingers to zoom in or out.

Customize Dictionary sources

• In the Dictionary app on your Mac, choose Dictionary > Preferences. You can select and reorder sources, such as Spanish or Korean dictionaries. You can set options for some sources, such as how to display pronunciations or which language of Wikipedia to search. The sources you select here determine the sources shown in Dictionary and when you look up words.

Hide profanity

• You can use Screen Time System Preferences to restrict access to explicit content in Dictionary for yourself or for a family member. See Change Screen Time Content & Privacy preferences.

If you search for a word and Dictionary can’t find any results, the word may not be in the sources selected in Dictionary preferences, or it may be restricted by Screen Time settings. If possible, Dictionary suggests alternative words.

You can also use Spotlight to get a quick definition.

[Update: Thanks to all those who left comments and recommendations. I’ve added them to the post]

Since the last time I talked (asked) about this was in 2007, I thought an update was in order.

If you want to put your mouse over hanzi (like this: 汉字) and get pinyin and English, I only know of a few options (please feel free to add to this list).

Browser Plugins

These are little programs that run only inside your Internet browsers. They’re all free, but only work for web pages (i.e. not MS Word, etc.).

• Chrome: Zhongwen – I’m trying this right now and I think it’s mostly good.
• FireFox and Chrome: Perapera-kun – I haven’t tried the newest version yet but others have recommended it to me.

Programs

These are programs that run in your computer’s “system tray” (down near the clock in the lower right) and can be used for any Chinese text on your whole computer including web pages, MS Word, Excel, Notepad, etc.. I only know of one right now.

For Windows

• MDBG Chinese Reader – I use this all the time and really like it. I haven’t tried the newest version, but there is now a free version (which I’ve also not tried), which is cool. It takes a really long time to start the program. But once you’ve got it loaded, you can turn it on and off without closing it.
• Lingoes – Recommended by Zhangyanglu and Simake

For Mac

Dictunifier Dictionary Conversion Tool For Macs

• XiaoCiDian 小词典 – Recommended by Rob

For Phones and Mobile Devices

Dictunifier Dictionary Conversion Tool For Mac Free

• Pleco – Recommended by Alastair and Aaron

Please feel free to leave comments and recommendations and I’ll add them into the main body of the article as they come in.