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Welcome to the Information desk of Wiktionary, a place where users can ask questions about words and about Wiktionary, ask for help, or post miscellaneous ideas that don’t fit in any of the other rooms.

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February 2025

Vandal

I have no idea of the proper place to make block requests here, but this account could use a block. Thanks. Three Sixty (talk) 02:09, 2 February 2025 (UTC)

Thank you. See Wiktionary:Vandalism in progress. —Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 02:11, 2 February 2025 (UTC)

Ah, thanks! Three Sixty (talk) 02:12, 2 February 2025 (UTC)

Broken templates at Wiktionary:User scripts

Wiktionary:User scripts seems to have bunch of

* text

links. Do anyone know what happened there? Ca (talk) 10:26, 2 February 2025 (UTC)

@Ca: Looks like that page has not been updated for a while. I wouldn't recommend enabling random user scripts unless you're prepared to fix bugs yourself... but if you find one that's any good, maybe it should be added to Special:Gadgets? Ioaxxere (talk) 05:56, 4 February 2025 (UTC)

It looks like Surjection fixed the issue. [1] Ca (talk) 06:26, 4 February 2025 (UTC)

Meta pages navigation

Is there a how-to guide on how meta pages are organized? By "meta" I mean pages like this one, dedicated to the organization and creation of word entries (which is the main purpose of this site.) I'm new here. When I'm trying to find information I've seen before, I often have to idea how to get back to it and I always forget to bookmark pages.

Some examples:

I know there are "templates" that are used to auto-generate HTML for actual browser display. E.g., on a word page, for a Noun header the top of the source is something like "{en-noun|-}' (lol even that throws me for a loop. When I try to paste the actual "code" here, this text box process it and converts it to something else.) And I know this code is input to some template function, and I remember reading about header templates and some of the parameters that can be passed to it. But I can't find that again.

I also remember when I was trying to find information on how a template processes arguments to create noun inflections for pluralization, I found a big list of English irregular nouns, but I can't find that anymore.

To me it feels like the "meta" part of this site is much larger than I can currently conceive.

TL;DR : is there a page describing the structure of these pages and how to navigate them to find things? Or just a beginners guide to how wiktionary editing/creating pages works?

Thanks!!

- Rob Killeroonie (talk) 20:25, 5 February 2025 (UTC)

These "meta" pages is the Wiktionary namespace appended by the "Wiktionary:" in its page title. There are other namespaces like the "template" namespace. See Wiktionary:Namespace for more info.

You can see a what parameters a template has by going to its page in the template namespace, for example {{en-noun}} would be at Template:en-noun.

The list of irregular nouns is probably Category:English irregular plurals or Category:English miscellaneous irregular plurals.

Help:Contents#Editing can probably help you on how editing/creating pages works. 115.188.138.105 10:45, 6 February 2025 (UTC)

НИКЕЬ

I saw a stylized depiction of this word or initialism (assuming my memory isn't faulty) on a sweatshirt. I don't find it in this wiktionary. Google Translate thinks it's Ukrainian for NIKE but the sweatshirt didn't include the swoosh trademark. Does anyone recognize it? —⁠71.105.243.101 04:55, 10 February 2025 (UTC)

The brand name comes from the Ancient Greek word for victory, which is also the name of a Greek goddess- see Nike. I'm certainly far from fluent in any Cyrillic-script language, but I don't think I've ever seen the soft sign Ь after a vowel. It's usually written after a consonant to indicate its effect on following sounds. Chuck Entz (talk) 05:59, 10 February 2025 (UTC)

Thanks. Maybe it was a Б instead of a Ь but nothing turns up for that, either. —⁠71.105.243.101 21:18, 10 February 2025 (UTC)

Could there have been a crease in the sweatshirt hiding an "Л" ? Perhaps it was a knockoff Nickelback (the Canadian rock band) sweatshirt, where the makers thought it amusing to put the "НИКЕЛЬ" on the front and a "бАК", well,....on the back? It's a massive stretch, I know.. :) DaveyLiverpool (talk) 23:47, 11 February 2025 (UTC)

Protected entries?

I wanted to edit the entry pajeet, but there was no edit link. I guess the page is protected because it is an offensive word, but unlike on Wikipedia, there is no announcement of that status on the page itself? JulieKahan (talk) 21:12, 16 February 2025 (UTC)

You can see when and how a page was protected as well as by whom and for whatever reason was placed in the edit summary in the page log. You can edit this entry if you become an autopatrolled user. —Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 04:36, 17 February 2025 (UTC)

What do I need to do to become an autopatrolled user? JulieKahan (talk) 10:06, 17 February 2025 (UTC)

Typically, an admin will just happen across your edits and propose it at Wiktionary:Whitelist, but there's no reason you can't explicitly ask an admin on a user talk page to nominate you, if you think your edits show a sufficient knowledge of the site's rules and you show good judgement. —Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 02:16, 18 February 2025 (UTC)

Middle Chinese pronunciations for 乂

We should add another Middle Chinese pronunciation for 乂 according to 《集韻》「牛蓋切，去泰，疑。」 JoeyChen (talk) 07:14, 17 February 2025 (UTC)

@Wyang — JoeyChen (talk) 17:37, 20 February 2025 (UTC)

@JoeyChen: As I said below, Wyang is inactive so you're very unlikely to get a response. — Eru·tuon 18:08, 21 February 2025 (UTC)

Middle Chinese pronunciations of 咻

We should add other two Middle Chinese pronunciations of 咻 according to 《集韻》「吁句切，去遇，曉。」and《集韻》「虛交切，平爻，曉。」JoeyChen (talk) 16:05, 17 February 2025 (UTC)

@Wyang — JoeyChen (talk) 17:38, 20 February 2025 (UTC)

Middle Chinese pronunciations of 休

We should add another Middle Chinese pronunciation of 休 according to 《集韻》「火羽切，上噳，曉。」 JoeyChen (talk) 16:26, 17 February 2025 (UTC)

@Wyang — JoeyChen (talk) 17:38, 20 February 2025 (UTC)

Wiktionary as a Microsoft Word add-in

There is already a Wikipedia add-in in Word. Why can't there be a Wiktionary one? It would be a nice convenience during work and personal projects to have.LambrosTower (talk) 18:58, 17 February 2025 (UTC)

Middle Chinese pronunciations of 佗

Erutuon We should add other Middle Chinese pronunciations of 佗 according to 《集韻》「他佐切，去過，透」and《集韻》「余支切，平支，以」JoeyChen (talk) 02:43, 18 February 2025 (UTC)

@Wyang — JoeyChen (talk) 17:39, 20 February 2025 (UTC)

Middle Chinese pronunciations of 佛

Erutuon We should add another Middle Chinese pronunciation of 佛 according to 《集韻》「薄宓切，入質，幷」JoeyChen (talk) 03:54, 18 February 2025 (UTC)

@Wyang — JoeyChen (talk) 17:39, 20 February 2025 (UTC)

Incorrect Syllables Category

For some reason, Durga was automatically categorized as having both 2 and 3 syllables. Could someone explain why that happened and/or how to remove the incorrect English 3-syllable words category? 2600:8805:905:6C10:74A9:3227:F247:25E8 04:00, 18 February 2025 (UTC)

I'm not sure why but switching the /ɚ/ to /əɹ/ fixes it 2600:8805:905:6C10:F539:9C94:214B:D273 19:23, 18 February 2025 (UTC)

Middle Chinese pronunciations of 佔

Erutuon We should add other Middle Chinese pronunciations of 佔 according to 《集韻》「陟陷切，去陷，知」and《集韻》「處占切，平鹽，昌」JoeyChen (talk) 11:50, 18 February 2025 (UTC)

@Wyang — JoeyChen (talk) 17:39, 20 February 2025 (UTC)

Middle Chinese pronunciations of 伯

Erutuon We should add another Middle Chinese pronunciation of 伯 according to 《洪武正韻》「必駕切，去禡」JoeyChen (talk) 15:05, 18 February 2025 (UTC)

@Wyang — JoeyChen (talk) 17:40, 20 February 2025 (UTC)

Middle Chinese pronunciations of 余

Erutuon We should add other Middle Chinese pronunciations of 余 according to 《集韻》「羊茹切，去御，以」, 《集韻》「詳余切，平魚，邪」, and 《集韻》「同都切，平模，定」JoeyChen (talk) 16:12, 18 February 2025 (UTC)

@Wyang — JoeyChen (talk) 17:40, 20 February 2025 (UTC)

Is it acceptable to create redirects expanding umlauts in German words to the form of a vowel followed by an e?

I was looking at WT:REDIR and it says that you shouldn't create redirects from accentless words to ones with diacritics. But, take the word "Belästigung" - unacceptable use #5 clearly states that creating a redirect for "Belastigung" would be incorrect, but what about "Belaestigung", the spelling one would use when umlauts are not available? It seems to imply that the best course of action would be to create a page with the {{alternative form of}} template, but that doesn't seem quite right since it isn't an alternative form per se. What is the best thing to do? Moire9 (talk) 23:33, 18 February 2025 (UTC)

I think it would be a waste of time but we have the template {{de-umlautless spelling of}}, which is only used with a small number of words, see also Wiktionary_talk:About_German/Archive_1#dafuer, dafuer. Anatoli T. ^{(обсудить}/^вклад) 23:53, 18 February 2025 (UTC)

Middle Chinese pronunciations of 侗

Erutuon We should add another Middle Chinese pronunciation of 侗 according to 《集韻》「徒弄切，去送，定」JoeyChen (talk) 02:06, 19 February 2025 (UTC)

@Wyang — JoeyChen (talk) 17:40, 20 February 2025 (UTC)

Greek Verb Templates - Mixed Conjugation Groups

I've looked through the templates and I just can't seem to figure out how to document specific verbs, due their alternate accepted spellings when these alternates fall in both the 1st and 2d conjugation groups.

---

A specific example:

The entry for γυρίζω doesn't include the alternate spellings:

• active first person present tense: γυρίζω, γυρνάω, γυρνώ
• passive first person present tense: γυρίζομαι, γυρνιέμαι

(I'm using Lexigram as my primary source for inflection validation: https://www.lexigram.gr/)

On the γυρίζω page:

• The alternate forms of γυρνάω and γυρνώ are mentioned on the page as alternates, but aren't included in the inflection table.
• The alternate for the passive form is not listed anywhere on the page.

What's the "right" way to update this entry?

---

I'm aware I could manually enter every element into the table for every conjugation...that seems to defeat the purpose of templates though... (I'm assuming it's entirely appropriate to include all conjugations of all the variations...)

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

---

Some more verbs with multiple variations (these are not synonyms, they are alternate spellings of the same word)

• φτερουγίζω (πτερυγίζω, φτερουγάω, φτερουγώ)
• σφυρίζω (σφυράω, σφυρώ)
• αποδεικνύομαι (αποδείχνομαι)
• παριστάνω (παρασταίνω, παριστώ) & παριστάνομαι (παρασταίνομαι, παρίσταμαι)
• προφταίνω (προφθαίνω, προφθάνω, προφτάνω)
• λυσσάω (λυσσιάζω, λυσσάζω, λυσσώ)
• ταράζω (ταράσσω, ταράττω) & ταράζομαι (ταράσσομαι, ταράττομαι)

Katananers (talk) 02:14, 19 February 2025 (UTC)

Hello @Katananers! Thank you for your questions. A very brief answer, and we can use our Talkpages for details: γυρίζω (gyrízo) with -ίζω and γυρνάω/γυρνώ (gyrnáo/gyrnó) (-άω/-ώ is considered as one) are 2 different forms (not just spellings=different letters forms=different formations, not same pronunciation). Each form has its own page (what a luxury to have plenty of space at wiktionaries!) and is mentioned at 'Alternative forms'. You mentioned lexigram (unfortunately I have only checked sample pages because one needs to pay subscription). I have noted, that it often presents a fusion of 'learned' different forms in its tables: a matter of style and house rules. Some of them, are dated or Katharevousa. Here, we have a table for γυρίζω and a table for γυρνάω/γυρνώ. These 2 are different, but they may share common inflectional.forms e.g. γυρίστηκα (gyrístika). Note, that printed dictionaries do not have ample space and often include variants of verbs at one lemma; like γυρίζω & γυρνώ,-άω @DSMG where each form has a different code of conjugation here. Our main verb.reference is mainly this one with strictly Standard forms plus we take a look at dictionaries for learned and less common inflectional forms. Thank you ‑‑Sarri.greek ^♫ I 18:00, 19 February 2025 (UTC)

Thank you, Sarri.

I did read that the "talk page" is best suited for a particular page, but I'm not sure how to create/start a discussion/comment on a page. (Where do I find the how-to?)

I thought this forum would still be appropriate, because it was in regards to more than one word.

I understand that the 2 variations would get different pages (I can see how that would keep the content much easier to read and understand, as well).

What is the best way to document the alternatives between pages - as they are not synonyms - and shouldn't be confused as they have similar meanings and they have identical meanings.

• 1 Should be they only be identified at the top of the page under `=== Alternative Forms ===`? Both active and passive alternates?
• 2 Should they be listed as alternates and in the conjugation table heading?
• 3 Should they be mentioned in the conjugation tables?
• 4 If mentioned in the conjugation tables (even if the inflection isn't included, how do you add present tense, 1st person passive alternates to the table? (Or can your direct me to a resource that explains it? I wasn't able to find it in the template pages...but there's a lot of information there.)
  • 5 for example, I wanted to update παχαίνω, which doesn't have the alternate passive form documented anywhere (παχαίνομαι & παχύνομαι; although now I'm going to look it up in the verbs resource you've just provided)

I definitely use the DSMG resource regularly - but the other resource is new to me. There seems to be more terribly unreliable information available than accurate so I really appreciate this book! Katananers (talk) 22:00, 19 February 2025 (UTC)

M @Katananers _>>our Talk pages<< e.g. you may ask a question for a specific verb at my User talk:Sarri.greek (assuming that here, in this room, people might be interested in more broad issues). _1.2.3 all of them are good. Alternative forms at the top is required (readers of wiktionary are accustomed to look there for forms). Inclusion in conj.tables is good too: placing is up to the editor, also explaining at table.notes or explain more difficult cases at a Usage section. _4, at the moment with have |alt-form= at the 1st.sg.present.active. If the verb has a passive voice in the table, we do not repeat the altform indication. _5 παχαίνω (pachaíno) is a tricky one. {{R:Babiniotis 2002}} dictionary does not give a passive at all for the Standard -αίνω. But the ancient παχύνω, formal, yes it is still used in the passive but hardly in the active. Sorry, I need a lot of time to make a table. I could try in the next days. In the meantime, try editing, and I can make corrections which you can see if a page is at your Watchlist. In most Grammars active and passive conj.sets are detached and studied separately (because active is fairly steady but passive can be very unstable=many variants). For more, check my -νω verb notes (check βαραίνω and -ύνω) & my refs. ‑‑Sarri.greek ^♫ I 23:10, 19 February 2025 (UTC)

Middle Chinese pronunciations for 佹

Erutuon We should add another Middle Chinese pronunciation of 佹 according to 《集韻》「俱爲切，平支，見」JoeyChen (talk) 04:07, 19 February 2025 (UTC)

@JoeyChen: Sorry, I know almost nothing about Chinese languages and should not be messing with Middle Chinese pronunciations. How did my name come up as a person to talk to? — Eru·tuon 06:10, 19 February 2025 (UTC)

I thought you were the person since you protected these modules.JoeyChen (talk) 06:17, 19 February 2025 (UTC)

@Erutuon JoeyChen (talk) 06:32, 19 February 2025 (UTC)

Protecting modules just requires seeing how much they are used and how much they are vandalized. You need to talk to someone who edits them. — Eru·tuon 17:28, 19 February 2025 (UTC)

@Erutuon The pronunciations were created by a bot. Who should I turn to then? — JoeyChen (talk) 15:33, 20 February 2025 (UTC)

What bot? Find the bot owner, who should be listed on the bot's page. — Eru·tuon 17:34, 20 February 2025 (UTC)

Sorry, the bot was owned by a user who is now inactive. User:Justinrleung might be able to help. 🤷🏻‍♂️ — Eru·tuon 17:36, 20 February 2025 (UTC)

@JoeyChen, Erutuon: We do not add Middle Chinese pronunciations based on Jiyun at the moment, as Jiyun is a very "liberal" work compared to Guangyun. — justin(r)leung _{{ (t...) | c=› }} 17:39, 20 February 2025 (UTC)

How do you verify the accuracy of the information?

Hi, sorry if this question is out of place. Anyway, I like the idea of a collaboratively created dictionary but I'm wondering how you determine the correctness of the information posted here. Some of the information clearly contradicts a huge number of sources. 5.172.255.245 23:35, 21 February 2025 (UTC)

When it comes to definitions and such, WT:CFI and WT:RFV are the most important. When it comes to various other information, it depends, especially etymology, where we have numerous discussions such as at WT:Tea room or WT:ES. Vininn126 (talk) 23:39, 21 February 2025 (UTC)

WIKTIONARY MAKES NO GUARANTEE OF VALIDITY

Wiktionary is an online open-content collaborative dictionary, that is, a voluntary association of individuals and groups working to develop a common resource of human knowledge. The structure of the project allows anyone with an Internet connection to alter its content. Please be advised that nothing found here has necessarily been reviewed by people with the expertise required to provide you with complete, accurate or reliable information.

That is not to say that you will not find valuable and accurate information in Wiktionary; much of the time you will. However, Wiktionary cannot guarantee the validity of the information found here. The content of any given entry may recently have been changed, vandalized or altered by someone whose opinion does not correspond with the state of knowledge in the relevant fields. Note that most other dictionaries and reference works also have similar disclaimers.

No formal peer review

We are working on ways to select and highlight reliable versions of entries. Our active community of editors uses tools such as the Special:Recentchanges and Special:Newpages feeds to monitor new and changing content. However, Wiktionary is not uniformly peer reviewed; while readers may correct errors or engage in casual peer review, they have no legal duty to do so and thus all information read here is without any implied warranty of fitness for any purpose or use whatsoever. Even entries that have been vetted by informal peer review or word of the day processes may later have been edited inappropriately, just before you view them.

None of the contributors, sponsors, administrators, or anyone else connected with Wiktionary in any way whatsoever can be responsible for the appearance of any inaccurate or libelous information or for your use of the information contained in or linked from these web pages.

No contract; limited license

Please make sure that you understand that the information provided here is being provided freely, and that no kind of agreement or contract is created between you and the owners or users of this site, the owners of the servers upon which it is housed, the individual Wiktionary contributors, any project administrators, sysops or anyone else who is in any way connected with this project or sister projects subject to your claims against them directly. You are being granted a limited license to copy anything from this site; it does not create or imply any contractual or extracontractual liability on the part of Wiktionary or any of its agents, members, organizers or other users.

There is no agreement or understanding between you and Wiktionary regarding your use or modification of this information beyond the Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 4.0 International License (CC-BY-SA) and the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL); neither is anyone at Wiktionary responsible should someone change, edit, modify or remove any information that you may post on Wiktionary or any of its associated projects.

Trademarks

Any of the trademarks, service marks, collective marks, design rights or similar rights that are mentioned, used or cited in the entries of the Wiktionary dictionary are the property of their respective owners. Their use here does not imply that you may use them for any other purpose other than for the same or a similar informational use as contemplated by the original authors of these Wiktionary entries under the CC-BY-SA and GFDL licensing schemes. Unless otherwise stated Wiktionary and Wikimedia sites are neither endorsed by nor affiliated with any of the holders of any such rights and as such Wiktionary cannot grant any rights to use any otherwise protected materials. Your use of any such or similar incorporeal property is at your own risk.

Jurisdiction and legality of content

Publication of information found in Wiktionary may be in violation of the laws of the country or jurisdiction from where you are viewing this information. The Wiktionary database is stored on servers in the United States of America, and is maintained in reference to the protections afforded under local and federal law. Laws in your country or jurisdiction may not protect or allow the same kinds of speech or distribution. Wiktionary does not encourage the violation of any laws; and cannot be responsible for any violations of such laws, should you link to this domain or use, reproduce, or republish the information contained herein.

Not professional advice

If you need specific advice (for example, medical, legal, financial, or risk management) please seek a professional who is licensed or knowledgeable in that area. 2A02:9B0:1E:4E1A:DD59:44A2:3644:4A6E 06:54, 22 February 2025 (UTC)

dichopatric

Dichopatric: Pertaining to populations or species having geographic ranges separated to the extent that individuals from the two populations never meet and gene flow is not possible; macrodichopatric; dichopatry; cf. allopatric, parapatric, sympatric. Etymology: Greek dickho-, apart, in two + patra, fatherland. 2407:7000:8200:2400:A9E2:32E3:7E08:9932 23:46, 28 February 2025 (UTC)

March 2025

Equivalent to or By surface analysis?

When am I supposed to use "Equivalent to" or "By surface analysis" in the Etymology section? Davi6596 (talk) 00:01, 2 March 2025 (UTC)

They’re effectively meaningless Wiktionarisms.

Nicodene (talk) 00:13, 2 March 2025 (UTC)

I see. Is the topic you linked suitable for a vote? Davi6596 (talk) 00:32, 2 March 2025 (UTC)

I have started a new thread here.

Nicodene (talk) 02:00, 2 March 2025 (UTC)

Ref template syntax help

On Template:R:RE, I wish to convert a parameter's numeral values into Roman numerals. E.g. if the user inserts 5, result in V. How to do this?

I also want to modify the word "column"/"columns" based on the kind of input. This can probably be done with regex but I don't know the syntax. E.g. [0-9]+ --> "column", else "columns". Or some simpler way? Danny lost (talk) 14:47, 2 March 2025 (UTC)

The Grease Pit is best for technical questions, so you may wish to post at Wiktionary:Grease pit/2025/March. —Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 20:20, 3 March 2025 (UTC)

Squeeze Stile - definition

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/squeeze_stile

"A stile formed by two uprights close enough together to allow a person to squeeze through but too narrow for livestock to pass."

Is there a word missing before or after "uprights"? I suppose it could make sense, but only vaguely since the noun definition of "upright" is "Any vertical part of a structure." Substituting that definition into the one for squeeze stile reads:

"A stile formed by two vertical parts of a structure close enough together to allow a person to squeeze through but too narrow for livestock to pass." however a squeeze stile is, as far as I know, always created by two vertical structures.

Never used wiktionary before except to check definitions so any advice would be appreciated. Tæppa (talk) 18:50, 3 March 2025 (UTC)

To answer your question directly, no, I do not think any words are missing. This definition makes sense to me as a native American English speaker. I would know that an "upright" would be an object that is vertically-oriented (in the States, you are probably most likely to hear this referenced in gridiron football with the uprights of a field goal post). I think your substituted definition also sounds correct and gives me the same mental image, just wordier. —Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 20:19, 3 March 2025 (UTC)

Would you describe the goal, in both American and International Football (different sports but both apply), as being "inbetween the uprights"?

At first I misread the definition of Squeeze Stile as containing "upright" without the "s" but even with the "s" making the adjective a noun, it still feels odd to use it as it it doesn't imply a physical object (or rather lack of object / gap having been created intentionally by a human), only the concept of something being "upright". Does my confusion make sense?

The only other language entered for the item is Malagasy, which uses their word "andry" which seems to mean "post" and, contrary to the English mentioned previously, "the state of being horizontal".

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/andry Tæppa (talk) 12:50, 5 March 2025 (UTC)

If someone were to say that the purpose of a field goal kicker is to "get it in between the uprights", then that would be perfectly normal to me. I think I see your confusion, but it was just not confusing to me. If it confuses you, that's totally legit, I'm just giving some anecdotal experience that is opposite to yours. —Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 17:52, 5 March 2025 (UTC)

R:pl:SJPD cert issue

It looks like {{R:pl:SJPD}} points to www.sjpd.pwn.pl, which has a certificate problem that can't be bypassed because of HSTS. However, the updated URL like https://doroszewski.pwn.pl/haslo/replika/ work just fine, so I'd like someone who has perms to update it. Thank you, 91.94.107.234 00:28, 4 March 2025 (UTC)

 Done —Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 00:44, 4 March 2025 (UTC)

Checked it at (randomly) bom#Polish and it seems to work just fine. Let me know if there are any issues. —Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 00:47, 4 March 2025 (UTC)

On CirrusSearch

How can I look for pages whose titles end in a said string of letters? I cannot seem to find an alternative to the prefix: keyword. Saumache (talk) 12:28, 4 March 2025 (UTC)

Since the Wiktionary:Grease Pit is for technical issues, I think you'll have better luck posting this to Wiktionary:Grease_pit/2025/March. —Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 16:57, 4 March 2025 (UTC)

Thanks I'll try posting it there. Saumache (talk) 18:06, 4 March 2025 (UTC)

Can square root be a verb?

Can it? 115.188.108.84 08:19, 5 March 2025 (UTC)

Virtually any noun in English can be intelligibly used as a verb, so if someone were to say "You need to square root the number inside the symbol", then I would know what that person means, but it is much more common to say "You need to take the square root of the number inside the symbol". Doing a quick search shows no results of using "square root" as a verb, but I'm sure it's been done before. —Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 17:54, 5 March 2025 (UTC)

Your search used “you” instead of the mathematicians’ “we”. Here are three uses: [2], [3], [4]. As far as I can see this use is not “clearly widespread”, yet apparently sufficient to meet our CFI.  ​‑‑Lambiam 17:26, 14 March 2025 (UTC)

Sigh. It used to be you needed Shakespeare-level riz to add words to the language willy nilly. :) Killeroonie (talk) 22:26, 27 March 2025 (UTC)

Esperanto imperative (volitive?) mood

It seems that imperative and volitive (moods) are synonyms, but it looks confusing, so both instances should probably be unified to imperative. For example verbs, see intransitive aberacii and transitive abdiki: volitive appears in the headword, but imperative appears in the conjugation.

Thank you, 91.94.105.79 17:39, 15 March 2025 (UTC)

What should be done?

I created anti-humor, which is kind of similar to anti-joke. Which title should be used? Should they be kept individually? RanDom 404 (talk) 18:04, 16 March 2025 (UTC)

Please familiarize yourself with the basics of Wiktionary, which are quite different from Wikipedia. If two terms each meet our criteria for inclusion, they each get their own entry, also if they are fully synonymous.  ​‑‑Lambiam 14:49, 19 March 2025 (UTC)

Tables are no longer scrollable!

Tables for declensions and conjugations can no longer be scrolled. This is terrible for viewers on mobile devices. Half or more of the information is no longer viewable.

It seems to be a new default as this is happening suddenly across several languages.

Cross-posted at the Grease_Pit as I learned about it after this initial post.

FPanon (talk) 21:13, 17 March 2025 (UTC)

The ethical dative

Hello I'm a human being. Please explain to me the meaning of "ethical" in the phrase "ethical dative". 'cause it doesn't seem to connect to any modern understanding of the word, or even any Wiktionary meaning of the word. It's not moralistic. Thank you, -- best wishes, someone who def ain't Equinox and certainly has no ethics. 80.235.236.18 00:31, 19 March 2025 (UTC)

According to this source, one sense of Ancient Greek ἦθος (êthos) is “interest”. While this sense makes sense, I cannot find it in any dictionaries.  ​‑‑Lambiam 14:36, 19 March 2025 (UTC)

Automatic subscription to one's own posts

how to enable the automatic subscription to one's own posts, both pasat and future? JMGN (talk) 16:37, 21 March 2025 (UTC)

If I understand correctly, you can go to anyone's contributions (e.g. in my signature, it's the "C" for me) and that page will have an associated RSS or Atom feed. That will update you to any edits that person makes to this wiki. —Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 18:20, 21 March 2025 (UTC)

@koavf: I mean the [🔔 Subscribe] button in blue on the upper right corner, like in this very post. JMGN (talk) 19:44, 21 March 2025 (UTC)

Sorry. It seems like I misread what you wrote. You are asking about one's own posts and automatically subscribing to discussion topics that you create. Go to Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-editing and then see "Automatically subscribe to topics". If you select that option, then "When you start a new discussion or comment in an existing discussion, you will be automatically notified when others post new comments to it." which I believe is exactly what your question was. —Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 20:01, 21 March 2025 (UTC)

@koavf: Unfortunately, it does not work to subscribe to past post. Any alternatives? JMGN (talk) 10:27, 22 March 2025 (UTC)

Hm, I don't know of one. In principle, someone could maybe make a bot or something. I think the most efficient way to do it would be to go to your contribs, filter to the Wiktionary and Wiktionary talk namespaces, and then Ctrl+F for "new section". That will probably find a lot of them with minimal effort. It's the best guess I have now. —Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 16:01, 22 March 2025 (UTC)

How to determine if a word is a lemma?

In WordNet, every LexicalEntry is a lemma, but here on Wiktionary, many (most?) entries are non-lemma word/alt forms. For example, oranges is not a lemma, because it is the plural form of the noun orange and also the 3rd person singular of the verb "to orange" (orange is a verb??) The categories at the bottom of the page for "oranges" include "English non lemma forms" and "English verb forms", so that's helpful for this word. However, a word like runs is more complicated. It's both the plural of 'run' and the 3rd-person singular form of the verb "to-run". But it is also a noun lemma itself (slang for diarrhea), i.e. "the runs." And at the bottom of the page for 'runs' it includes categories of "English non-lemma forms" AND "English lemmas." So it's not clear to me just looking at the Categories for this page how to classify a particular word on a page with multiple sense entries, some which are lemmas and some which are non-lemmas. I'm trying to create an algorithm for computer software that is able to classify a particular sense entry as a lemma or non-lemma. Are there any "rules", either informal or enforced by the various Templates, that can categorize a sense entry un-ambiguously as being a lemma or non-lemma? And if so where would I find those rules? Also, this last question probably requires a linguist, lexicographer or grammarian to chime in, but to what parts of speech is the concept of "lemma/non-lemma" applicable? E.g., can Symbols or Numbers be lemmas/non-lemmas? I'd appreciate any references to literature on the subject as well. Thanks! Killeroonie (talk) 22:10, 27 March 2025 (UTC)

@Killeroonie: Most of the time we add "forms" to the part of speech in the headword templates, so a verb nonlemma would have "verb form" instead of "verb" in its POS parameter. Also, the definition line will link to the lemma, as in "third person singular present indicative form of run". With alternative forms of the lemma, it's a little murkier, since they're technically lemmas in their own right. Still, the definition will include a link to the main form, as in "alternative form/spelling of" + a link to the main form. There are some cases where both are alternative forms of each other due to some regional or sociolinguistic variation that's viewed as two sides of the same coin rather than one main and the other secondary, but usually we try to just arbitrarily pick one as the main one. For instance, when choosing whether the UK or the US spelling is the main one for English, the established practice is to go with whichever one was created first. That said, when you have more than 8 million entries that have been worked on by who knows how many editors over more than 20 years, there will always be some that don't quite fit. Chuck Entz (talk) 04:07, 28 March 2025 (UTC)

Can you explain how wiktionary templates work to add a word to a "word form" or "non lemma" category that displays at the bottom of each page? If I knew how wiktionary determines when to do this, I think it would help my understanding a great deal. I'm a software developer and I have a high level understanding of how templates work to automate generation of html content for the page based on template arguments, but otherwise the mechanics are a black box to me. But I'm willing to take the time to learn how it works. Thanks. Killeroonie (talk) 21:12, 29 March 2025 (UTC)

The headword module looks at the part of speech given. If it's one of the standard parts of speech, it adds the part of speech category corresponding to that part of speech, and the lemmas category. If it sees a standard POS followed by "form" it adds it to the non-lemma category. If it doesn't recognize the POS, it doesn't add either category. I can't tell you how many times I've found entries in Wiktionary:Todo/Lists/Derivation category does not match entry language because of typos, miscapitalization, or incorrect number: {{head|en|Noun}} and {{head|en|nouns}} don't add either the lemma or nonlemma categories, nor do {{head|en|substantive}} or {{head|en|noun phrase}}. Chuck Entz (talk) 22:45, 29 March 2025 (UTC)

How to add a language code parameter into a template?

I want to create a template which contains one of its parameter's value to be language code suppose I give en it would replace it English with blue clickable nature you know MurjhayaAanch (talk) 23:03, 28 March 2025 (UTC)