Sdcv

Sdcv is a command line dictionary. It provides access to dictionaries in StarDict's format.

Installation

Install the sdcv package.

Usage

sdcv can be started from the command line:

$ sdcv

This gives you a 'shell-like' command-line from which you can query the database.

Adding dictionaries

There are various places on the web where you can download StarDict dictionaries (e.g. https://web.archive.org/web/20200702000038/http://download.huzheng.org/).

Once you have the appropriate files you can extract them into /usr/share/stardict/dic.

If you do not have root permission, you can set the STARDICT_DATA_DIR environment variable:

STARDICT_DATA_DIR=$XDG_DATA_HOME

sdcv will look in the dic subdirectory so make sure that it is created and then place your dictionary files inside it.

If all is done correctly, sdcv should be able to output definitions for words passed into it.

Tips and tricks

Output Formatting

You can use a wrapper around sdcv to conveniently format its output (Source):

function def() {
	sdcv -n --utf8-output --color "$@" 2>&1 | \
	fold --width=$(tput cols) | \
	less --quit-if-one-screen -RX
}

An environment variable can achieve similar formatting functionality without the need of a wrapper, affecting all normal calls of sdcv:

SDCV_PAGER='less --quit-if-one-screen -RX'

Piping also works:

SDCV_PAGER='lolcat -f | less --quit-if-one-screen -RX'

See Also

• Official web site
• owenh.net - StarDict Dictionaries
• Post on askubuntu.com