 | This is aWiktionary policy, guideline or common practices page. It should not be modified without discussion and consensus. Any substantial or contested changes require aVOTE.[1] |
| Policies – Entries:CFI -EL -NORM -NPOV -QUOTE -REDIR -DELETE. Languages:LT -AXX. Others:BLOCK -BOTS -VOTES. |
This is a list of norms that govern how an entry should be formatted. This includes what sections are allowed and what contents are expected to be found in them. These rules reflect what editors think as best concerning the standard format of an entry.[2]
While the information below may represent some kind of “standard” form, it is not a set of rigid rules. You may experiment with deviations, but other editors may find those deviations unacceptable, and revert those changes. They have just as much right to do that as you have to make them. Be ready to discuss those changes. If you want your way accepted, you have to make the case for that. Unless there is a good reason for deviating, the standard should be presumed correct. Refusing to discuss, or engaging in edit wars may also affect your credibility in other unrelated areas.
This is a simple entry for the wordbed, and shows the most fundamental elements of an entry:
This example can be copied and used to start an entry or section of an entry.
==English=====Noun==={{en-noun}}# A piece of [[furniture]] to [[sleep]] on.===References===* ''The Oxford Paperback Dictionary''Entries for terms in other languages should follow the standard format as closely as possible regardless of the language of the word. However, a translation into English should normally be given instead of a definition, including a gloss to indicate which meaning of the English translation is intended. Also, the translations section should be omitted.
For languages written in other scripts (Japanese, Gothic, etc.), we haveromanization systems in place. It is required that each romanization entry contain at least one definition line starting with “#” in the wikitext.[4]
Some languages do have characteristics that require variation from the standard format. For links to these variations seeWiktionary:Language considerations.
There are additional headings which you should include if possible, but if you don’t have the necessary expertise, resources or time, you have no obligation to add them, with the possible exception of “References”. The list below is not an exclusive list; other headings may be essential in some circumstances. An order for these headings is recommended, but variations in that order are also allowable.
A typical entry that uses many of these additional headings could be formatted thus:[5][6]
==English=====Alternative forms======Etymology======Pronunciation===* Phonetic transcriptions* Audio files in any relevant dialects* Rhymes* Homophones* Hyphenation===Noun===Headword line# Meaning 1#* Quotations# Meaning 2#* Quotations etc.====Usage notes========Synonyms========Antonyms========Hypernyms========Hyponyms========Meronyms========Holonyms========Troponyms========Coordinate terms========Derived terms========Related terms========Collocations========Descendants========Translations=======Verb===Headword line# Meaning 1#* Quotations etc.====Usage notes========Synonyms========Antonyms========Hypernyms========Hyponyms========Meronyms========Holonyms========Troponyms========Coordinate terms========Derived terms========Related terms========Collocations========Descendants========Translations=======References======Further reading======Anagrams=====Finnish=====Etymology======Pronunciation======Noun===Headword line# Meaning 1 in English#* Quotation in Finnish#** Quotation translated into English# Meaning 2 in English#* Quotation in Finnish#** Quotation translated into English====Synonyms========Derived terms========Related terms====
A key principle in ordering the headings and indentation levels is nesting. The order shown above accomplishes this most of the time. A heading placed at one level includes everything that follows until an equivalent level is encountered. If a word can be a noun and a verb, everything that derives from its being the first chosen part of speech should be put before the second one is started. Nesting is a key principle of Wiktionary's entry layout norms, but it is difficult to describe with only a few words. If you have problems with it, look at existing entries or ask a more experienced editor for help.
In general, headings in this group do not depend on the meaning of the word. They give an environment that leads up to the word and its relation to other words, and allow us to distinguish it from others that may be similar in some respects. Order of headings:
These headings generally derive from knowing the meaning of the word. Order of headings:
The name of the entry is the term, phrase, symbol, morpheme or other lexical unit being defined.[16]
For languages with two cases of script, the entry name usually begins with a lowercase letter.[17] For example, usework for the English noun and verb, notWork. Words which begin with acapital letter in running text are exceptions. Typical examples include proper nouns (Paris,Neptune), German nouns (Brot,Straße), and many abbreviations (PC,DIY). If someone tries to access the entry with incorrect capitalization, the software will try to redirect to the correct page automatically.
For prefixes, suffixes and other morphemes in most languages, place the character “-” where it links with other words:pre-,-ation,-a-, etc.
Some page titles can’t be created because of restrictions in the software, usually because they contain certain symbols such as# or|, or are too long. The full list of those entries is atAppendix:Unsupported titles. They are named using the descriptive format “Unsupported titles/Number sign”, while usingJavaScript to show the correct title like a normal entry.
For names of matched-pair entries such as( ) and* *, seeWiktionary:Matched-pair entries § Entry name.[18]
For names of sign language entries, seeWiktionary:About sign languages § Entry name.[19]
When multiple capitalizations, punctuation, diacritics, ligatures, scripts and combinations with numbers and other symbols exist, such aspan (as in “frying pan”),Pan (the Greek god),pan- (meaning “all-”) andパン(pan) (Japanese for “bread”), use the template{{also}} at the top of the page to cross-link between them:{{also|Pan|PAN|pan-|Pan-}}. When there are too many variations, place them in a separate appendix page, in this caseAppendix:Variations of "pan".[16]
Thepart of speech (POS orPoS) is a descriptor like “Noun” or “Adjective”; they are different types of terms, phrases, symbols, morphemes and other lexical units on Wiktionary. Each entry has one or more POS sections. In each, there is a headword line, followed by the definitions themselves.[21]
Allowed POS headers:
Other headers can be proposed as new additions to the list. The use of nonstandard POS headers may cause an entry to be categorized in a cleanup category for further inspection.
Some POS headers are explicitly disallowed:
The headword line[23] is the line directly below the part of speech header, in which the word is repeated, along with a romanization if applicable. You can use either the generic template{{head}} or language-specific templates, such as{{en-noun}} for English nouns. In some languages, additional information such as genders and inflected forms are found in the headword line.[24]
The definitions are in the POS section, below the headword line. The definitions are organized as a numbered list. The numbers are generated by adding the number sign (#) at the start of each definition in the wikitext. The key terms of a definition should be linked to the respective entries.[25]
For definitions concerning matched-pair entries and their components, seeWiktionary:Matched-pair entries § Definitions and redirects.[18]
Definitions may be illustrated by quotations. Quotations are generally placed under the definition which they illustrate. Where this is not possible (e.g. if a usage does not clearly relate to a specific sense), they should be placed on the Citations page. Less illustrative quotations may also be put on the Citations page. For details of how to format quotations, seeWiktionary:Quotations.[26]
For abbreviations, acronyms and initialisms (such asPC andSNAFU), the definitions usually use templates linking to the expanded forms of the abbreviation. For example, one of the senses in the entryPC may be a template that displays “Initialism ofpersonal computer.” Do not capitalise words in the expanded form unless that is how the expanded form is usually written. (In the previous example, don’t write “Personal Computer”.) Where the expanded form is an entry that exists (or should exist) in Wiktionary, link to it. Otherwise, if an appropriate Wikipedia article exists, link to it. When the expanded form does not merit either a Wiktionary entry or a Wikipedia article, link it to its component words. You may expand the definition with agloss if appropriate.[27]
A context label identifiesa definition which only applies in a restricted context. Such labels indicate, for example, that the following definition occurs in a limited geographic region or temporal period, or is used only by specialists in a particular field and not by the general population. Many context label templates also place an entry into a relevant category, but they must not be used merely for categorization (seecategory links, below). One or more labels may be placed before the definition:
| wikitext | result |
|---|---|
# |
Details inWiktionary:Context labels.[28]
Generally, every definition should be accompanied by one or morequotations illustrating that definition. Quotations are supplemented by example sentences, which are devised by Wiktionary editors in order to illustrate definitions. Example sentences should:
{{syn}}), andbefore any quotations associated with that specific definition.#:” command placed at the start of the line.#::”.#::”, and with the translation of the defined termboldfaced.The goal of the example sentences is the following, which is to be kept in mind when making one up:
Some variations of the same word kept in multiple pages include:
The “Description” section is placed in entries for symbols, containing a visual description of the current symbol.
Section contents:
LINK SYMBOL) may be described as “Two or threeinterlockedchainlinks.”The first header below the language heading is usually the level 3 “Etymology” header. The etymology is given right below the header without indentation. Etymology essentially shows where the word comes from. This may show the forms in other languages that underlie the word. For many modern words it may show who coined the word. If a word is derived from another in the same language by a regular rule, such as formation of an English adverb by adding “ly”, it is not necessary to repeat the complete details of the word’s origin on the page for the derived word.[31]
Sometimes twowords with different etymologies belong in the same entry because they are spelled the same (they are homographs). In such a case there will be more than one “Etymology” header, which we number. Hence for a word likelead the basic header skeleton looks like this:
===Etymology 1=======Pronunciation========Noun=======Etymology 2=======Pronunciation========Noun========Verb====
Note that in the case of multiple etymologies, all subordinate headers need to have their levels increased by 1 in order to comply with the fundamental concept of showing dependence through nesting.
When multiple etymologies are present, we recommend that – whenever possible – they are ordered by descending commonness in the language, so that the most common etymology is at the top. This may differ from the order given in a native monolingual dictionary. We recognize that editors won't always have sufficient information or context to order etymologies that way, so we encourage the application of this guidance on a best-effort basis.[32]
We also recommend that etymologies for lemmas precede etymologies for non-lemma forms. Languages on Wiktionary include non-lemma forms to varying degrees (if at all); however, it's a universal goal to increase the coverage of lemmas. In narrow cases, non-lemma etymologies can precede lemma etymologies, such as when a very common non-lemma form happens to have a rare or obsolete lemma homograph. Additionally, a lemma derived from a non-lemma form can follow that non-lemma form. Further deviations from this recommendation are allowable subject to editor consensus, reached on an entry's talk page, Beer parlour or another forum.[32]
The “Pronunciation” section includes the transcriptions, audio pronunciations, rhymes, hyphenations and homophones.[33]
{{a|en|GA}},{{a|en|RP}},{{a|en|Australia}},et al.) is first if there is regional variation, followed by the name of the transcription system, then a colon, then the transcription. It is preferable to use an established transcription system, such as enPR[34][35] orIPA (seeWiktionary:Pronunciation key for an outline of these two systems). Phonemic transcriptions are normally placed between diagonal strokes (/ /), and phonetic transcriptions between square brackets ([ ]).{{audio}} or a similar template.{{rhymes}}. See the template for usage instructions.{{hyphenation}} to list hyphenation patterns.{{homophones}} template. If a word is a homophone in a particular dialect, it may be added provided the dialect is indicated (for example,latter is a homophone ofladder in accents withflapping, andfarther is a homophone offather in somenon-rhotic accents).A typical pronunciation section may look like the following (simplified) example based on the wordsymbol:
* {{IPA|en|/ˈsɪmbəl/}}* {{audio|en|en-us-symbol.ogg|a=US}}* {{rhymes|en|ɪmbəl}}* {{hyphenation|en|sym|bol}}* {{homophones|en|cymbal}}Example with multiple accents (see entryportmanteau):
* {{IPA|en|/pɔːtˈmæn.təʊ/|a=RP}}* {{enPR|pôrtmă'ntō|a=US}}, {{IPA|en|/pɔɹtˈmæntoʊ/}}; {{enPR|pô'rtmăntōʹ}}, {{IPA|en|/ˌpɔɹtmænˈtoʊ/}}Examples with homophones depending on the dialect (see entriesladder andfather, respectively):
* {{homophones|en|latter}} {{q|in accents with [[flapping]]}}* {{homophones|en|farther}} {{q|in [[non-rhotic]] accents}}{{m}} template, which italicizes entries written in Latin script.This is a list of words that have similar meanings as the word being defined. They are often very inexact.
Where several definitions of the headword[37] exist, synonyms can be given in a separate list for each meaning:
{{sense}}.{{l}}.[38]The synonyms section forapogee might look like this:
*{{sense|point in an orbit}}{{l|en|apocenter}},{{l|en|apoapsis}},{{l|en|apsis}}*{{sense|highest point}}{{l|en|acme}},{{l|en|culmination}},{{l|en|zenith}}
To avoid identical lengthy lists of synonyms in many entries a single reference can be made in each to a commonThesaurus page:
*{{sense|highest point}} See also [[Thesaurus:apex]]An alternative to listing synonyms in a separate section is their placement immediately under the corresponding definition lines with{{synonyms}}:
# The point, in an orbit about the Earth, that is furthest from the Earth.#:{{synonyms|en|apocenter|apoapsis|apsis}}# The highest point.#:{{synonyms|en|acme|culmination|zenith}}
The choice between the two formats is subject to editorial discretion.
The following headers are available to define sections containing semantically related words other than synonyms: Antonyms, Hypernyms, Hyponyms, Meronyms, Holonyms, Troponyms, Coordinate terms, See also.
Each of these sections is formatted exactly like the Synonyms section (see above).
All links in these sections use the{{l}} template rather than plain wikilinks.[38]
List terms in the same language that are morphological derivatives. For example, the noundriver is derived, by addition of the suffix-er, from the verbtodrive. If it is not known from which part of speech a certain derivative was formed it is necessary to have a “Derived terms” header on the same level as the part of speech headings.
All links in this section use the{{l}} template rather than plain wikilinks;[38] for longer lists,{{col}} is generally used.
List words in the same language that have strong etymological connections but aren’t derived terms. Each such term should be wikified. For example,datum anddata should point to each other in this section since the latter is the plural of the former, and the plural form is not obtained by morphological derivation but was taken directly from Latin (where it is a morphological derivation). Another example is the pair of nounspendant andpennant. These should cross-reference each other as they have very similar (arguably identical) etymologies in some subsenses.
Collocations are combinations of words that occur with much higher frequency than would be expected by chance.
Collocations may either be added under the corresponding sense using{{coi}} or{{co}} (after all nyms but before all examples), or under a dedicated====Collocations==== header, as described inWiktionary:Collocations.
List terms in other languages that have borrowed or inherited the word. The etymology of these terms should then link back to the page.
Inherited terms should be listed first, ordered according to any layout specified on the relevantlanguage considerations page (so far as one is specified), and otherwise alphabetically by language name or family at each indentation level. These are then followed by all other descendants (e.g. borrowed terms), alphabetically by language name at each indentation level. For languages with multi-word names, their place in the order is determined by the first letter of the first name component – for instance, Norwegian comes before Old English, which comes before Portuguese.[39]
{{trans-top}} template just before the first language and{{trans-bottom}} at the line after the last translation.[42]{{t}} template for each translation.[43] This will create a link to that word in this Wiktionary and a small link to the Wiktionary for that language.[44][45][46][47] References for the translation should be on that other page rather than in the translation list. If you think{{t}} is too complex, simply enclose the translation in square brackets.{{t}}.Here is an example (a shortened version of the entry fororange) illustrating some of the conventions:[31]
===Noun==={{en-noun}}# The [[fruit]] of the [[orange tree]].# The [[reddish]]-[[yellow]] [[colour]] of an orange.====Translations===={{trans-top|fruit of the orange tree}}* French: {{t|fr|orange|f}}* German: {{t|de|Apfelsine|f}}, {{t|de|Orange|f}}* Japanese: {{t|ja|オレンジ|tr=orenji}}* Russian: {{t|ru|апельси́н|m}}* Serbo-Croatian:*: Cyrillic: {{t|sh|наранџа|f|sc=Cyrl}}, {{t|sh|поморанџа|f|sc=Cyrl}}*: Roman: {{t|sh|narandža|f}}, {{t|sh|pomorandža|f}}{{trans-bottom}}{{trans-top|colour of an orange}}* German: {{t|de|Orange|n}}* Hebrew: {{t|he|כתום|m|tr=katóm|alt=כתום \ כָּתֹם}}* Latvian: {{t|lt|oranžs|m}}{{trans-bottom}}...* Russian: {{t+|ru|спать|alt=спя́щий}}...{{t}} with embedded wikilinks for the individual words. For example the Russian translation oflivelihood:...* Russian: {{t|ru|[[средство|сре́дства]] [[к]] [[существование|существова́нию]]|n-p}}...Result:
Other observations may be added, under the heading “Trivia”.[50] Because of the unlimited range of possibilities, no formatting details can be provided.
The “See also” section is used to link to entries and/or other pages on Wiktionary, including appendices and categories. Don’t use this section to link to external sites such as Wikipedia or other encyclopedias and dictionaries.[14]
The “References” section contains reference works where users can verify the information available on our entries. This improves the reliability and usefulness of Wiktionary. References are especially encouraged for unusual or disputable claims in etymologies—such as the etymology ofwindhover—or usage notes.[14]
The “Further reading” section contains simple recommendations of further places to look.[14][15]
Examples:
Anagrams may be entered in alphabetical order under a level 3 header===Anagrams===. Only list anagrams that are words in the same language. Forpost, the anagrams section would look like this:[51][52]
* {{anagrams|en|OTPs|POTS|PTOs|Spot|opts|pots|spot|stop|tops}}You may include thealphagram which is not wikied unless it is itself a word. Forpost, the anagrams section would look like this:[53][54]
* {{anagrams|en|a=opst|OTPs|POTS|PTOs|Spot|opts|pots|spot|stop|tops}}This is material which is edited in a regular edit box, but does not appear in the entry when it is read. In some cases where it appears depends on your user preferences, especially the skin that you have chosen.
A Wiktionary category is a group of related entries which are listed on a category page. Sub-categories may also appear on that page. Categories and lists under various names may seem very similar, but the way they are built is very different; in most cases, but especially in open-ended lists, they complement each other.
To include an entry in a category, simply add a category tag to the entry thus:
[[Category:Category name]]
The link will appear at the bottom of the page in some skins and at the top in others, regardless of where it is placed in the edit box. Category links are placed one per line at the end of the appropriate language section.[55] Putting these tags in a consistent place makes them easier to find in a longer entry’s edit field. A category link appears red if its category page has not yet been described, but categorized entries will appear there. You should edit a new category page, usually to add a brief description of the category and adding one or more tags to place it in a higher-level category.
By convention, it is preferable to use the plural for most category names that are nouns. This will avoid having a category divided in two when some use the plural and some use the singular.
Lemma entries, whether English or non-English, can contain relevant images. Constraints:
Further constraints may apply on a case-by-case basis, as decided by editors.