# Dictionariez: a double-click dictionary extension with Anki export

> Dictionariez is a GPL-2.0 browser extension for Chrome, Firefox and Edge that looks up words on double-click across 20+ languages and exports what you looked up to Anki. The mechanism is simple, the dictionary coverage is community-driven, and the build is a webpack pipeline you can run yourself.

**pnlpal/dictionariez** — 📚 A customizable dictionary extension that supports double-click lookups in 20+ languages, 1000+ dictionaries, text-to-speech, translation and Anki integration.

- Repository: https://github.com/pnlpal/dictionariez
- Website: https://dictionariez.pnl.dev
- Stars: 674 · Forks: 43
- Language: JavaScript
- License: GPL-2.0
- Published: 2026-09-17 · Updated: 2026-09-17 · Language: en
- Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/pnlpal-dictionariez

## The problem Dictionariez solves for browser readers

Reading in a second language breaks flow. You hit an unknown word, open a new tab, type it into a dictionary site, read the entry, close the tab, and lose your place. Dictionariez removes the tab switch: you double-click the word and the definition appears over the page. The README describes this as "the fastest way to look up words", and the interaction model is the whole pitch.

The second half of the problem is retention. Looking a word up once rarely fixes it. Dictionariez keeps the words you looked up and exports them to Anki, so the lookup itself becomes the capture step. The package description states the goal plainly: "Facilitate your language learning by marking words in articles, looking up in various dictionaries, and exporting to Anki."

The audience is narrow and specific. It is for people who read foreign-language text in a desktop browser and already use spaced repetition. It is not a translation tool for reading a page you do not understand at all, and it is not a dictionary app for a phone, though the README points to Kiwi and Flow browsers as a way to run it on Android.

## How the lookup, dictionary set and Anki export fit together

The extension is a WebExtension built from a webpack pipeline, with the source under src/ and build tooling under utils/. The runtime dependencies in package.json tell you what the UI is made of: AngularJS 1.8, Bootstrap 3, jQuery, lodash, moment, and a set of DataTables packages. That is a 2015-era front-end stack carried forward, not a modern framework, and it shapes how the code reads if you plan to contribute.

Dictionaries are the variable part. The README claims support for English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Russian and Tajik, and says additional languages can be requested in the Programming and Language community. The repository also carries HOW-TO-ADD-A-DICT.md at the top level, which is the project's own answer to how a dictionary gets in. The README is explicit that more are wanted, linking to a community topic titled "Help, more dictionaries are needed".

Anki export is the retention path. The package description names it as a core function rather than an add-on, and the README lists it in the opening paragraph alongside definitions, translation and pronunciation. Text-to-speech and translation are the other two features named in the repository description, with the README referring to "real human pronunciation" in the popup window.

There is also a popup path separate from double-click: clicking the extension icon opens a window with dictionaries to search through, plus auto-completion, word history and keyboard shortcuts. Double-click is for reading; the popup is for deliberate exploration.

## Installing Dictionariez from the store listings

For normal use you do not build anything. The README gives store links for Chrome, Firefox and Microsoft Edge, and those are the install path. Open the listing for your browser and add the extension.

The README also documents two sibling products built from the same codebase. Ordböcker is "an equivalent version of Dictionariez tailored for learning Swedish", prioritising Swedish over English with a set of built-in Swedish dictionaries. SidePal is described as "a lighter version of Dictionariez that works in the browser's side panel", with the README adding that for full features you should use Dictionariez. All three have their own store listings.

For Android, the README does not offer a mobile build. It points to Kiwi and Flow browsers as a way to run the extension on a phone, which means you are relying on a browser that supports extensions rather than on a native app.

If you want to build from source instead, the README gives this sequence:

```bash
yarn
npm start
```

The first command installs requirements (the README accepts `npm install` as an alternative). The second starts a webpack dev-server; the README says to add the `build/` directory in your browser's extension page to load the extension. To target a different browser or product, the same commands take environment variables:

```bash
BROWSER=Firefox npm start
BROWSER=Edge npm start
PRODUCT=Ordböcker npm start
```

For a release build, the README gives `npm run build`, with the destination path `build/`, and `./pack.sh` to produce a zip. The environment variables compose, so `PRODUCT=Ordböcker BROWSER=Firefox npm run build` builds Ordböcker for Firefox. The package version at the time of writing is 8.1.0.

## Where Dictionariez is the wrong tool

Dictionary coverage is the first constraint. The README does not present a fixed catalogue; it presents a set of built-in dictionaries plus an open request for more, and it names the languages it supports rather than promising all of them. If your target language is not in that list, the extension will not help until someone adds it, and the README does not commit to a timeline for requests.

The second constraint is documentation depth. The README covers installation, store links, build commands and the privacy policy, and points to a community forum and a Discord channel. It does not document rollback, it does not describe how to export your lookup history outside Anki, and it does not describe a public API. If your workflow depends on scripting against the extension or moving your data between machines, the README is silent on both.

The third is the maintenance picture. The last push to the repository was on 2026-09-15, which is recent, but the README also states that the author is currently jobless and asks for donations. That is a candid statement about the project's resourcing, and it is worth weighing if you plan to depend on it. The front-end stack in package.json is old enough that a contributor expecting modern tooling will need to adjust.

Finally, this is a reading aid, not a translator. If you need to understand a page in a language you do not read at all, double-click lookups are the wrong interaction; you want full-page translation.

## How Dictionariez differs from a plain dictionary popup

The obvious comparison is a browser's built-in dictionary or a single-source popup extension. Those give you one dictionary and no memory. Dictionariez's difference is the combination of multiple dictionaries in one lookup and an export path to Anki, so the act of looking a word up also builds a review deck.

A second comparison is Anki itself plus a browser clipper. That approach captures words but leaves the definition step in a separate tab; Dictionariez inverts the order by making the lookup the capture trigger. The trade-off is that you are trusting the extension's dictionary set rather than choosing your own source per word.

Within the project's own family, the difference is narrower. Ordböcker is the same extension with Swedish prioritised and Swedish dictionaries built in, and SidePal is a lighter build that lives in the side panel. If you are learning Swedish, Ordböcker is the more direct fit; if you want a persistent panel rather than an overlay, SidePal is the lighter option, with the README warning that full features live in Dictionariez.

The licence is also part of the comparison. Dictionariez is GPL-2.0, so if you fork it or ship a modified build, the GPL obligations travel with the code. A closed-source extension has no such constraint. That matters if you are considering embedding this in a product rather than using it yourself.

## Licence, maintenance and upgrade cost

The repository is licensed GPL-2.0, stated in LICENSE and as `"license": "GPL2"` in package.json. For personal use that is unremarkable. For a fork or a redistribution, GPL-2.0 carries source-availability obligations, and the project's own build scripts and pack.sh are the mechanism by which a build is produced. This is a description of the licence, not legal advice; if you plan to redistribute a modified build, have someone qualified read the terms.

The extension is distributed through three browser stores, which means upgrades arrive through the store's update mechanism rather than through anything the repository controls. The repository version is 8.1.0, and CHANGELOG.md is kept at the top level, so the release history is inspectable if you want to see how often the extension changes.

Building from source has its own cost. The pipeline is `npm start` for development and `npm run build` for release, with `BROWSER` and `PRODUCT` environment variables selecting the target. There is no documented automated test suite in the README; package.json defines a `test` script that runs `UNIT_TEST=true node utils/webserver.js`, which starts the same dev server with a flag rather than running a separate test runner. If you fork the project, you are maintaining an AngularJS 1.8 front-end and a webpack config yourself.

## Conclusion

Dictionariez fits learners who read in the browser, want a definition on double-click, and already keep vocabulary in Anki; the built-in Anki export is the reason to pick it over a plain lookup popup. It is the wrong tool if you need a maintained, documented API surface, or if you cannot accept that dictionary coverage depends on community submissions and that the README does not document rollback or a data export path. Before installing, check the Chrome, Firefox or Edge listing for the current version, and if you plan to build it yourself, read HOW-TO-ADD-A-DICT.md first so you know what adding a dictionary actually involves.

## FAQ

### What is the meaning of dictionnaire?

It is the French word for dictionary. The project name Dictionariez is a stylised form of it, and the extension is a dictionary lookup tool rather than a French-specific one.

### What is the best bilingual dictionary?

The README does not rank dictionaries. Dictionariez aggregates multiple dictionaries per lookup and states that more dictionaries are needed, with requests handled through the Programming and Language community.

### Which is the no. 1 dictionary in the world?

No such claim appears in the README, which does not rank dictionary sources. Dictionariez presents itself as a lookup layer over many dictionaries rather than as a single authoritative one.

### What are the 12 different types of dictionaries?

The README does not classify dictionary types. The repository does document how to add a dictionary to the extension in HOW-TO-ADD-A-DICT.md, which is the closest it comes to the topic.

## Sources

- [Issues](https://github.com/pnlpal/dictionariez/issues)
- [License: GPL-2.0](https://github.com/pnlpal/dictionariez/blob/master/LICENSE)
- [pnlpal/dictionariez on GitHub](https://github.com/pnlpal/dictionariez)
- [Project website](https://dictionariez.pnl.dev)
- [README](https://github.com/pnlpal/dictionariez/blob/master/README.md)

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Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/pnlpal-dictionariez