Google unveils online dictionary

San Francisco: Google has launched an online dictionary which will offer meaning of words in two dozen languages. A visit to a Google Dictionary service at google.com/dictionary showed a clean, simple Web page with a box for selecting languages from a drop-down list and a second box for typing in words to be defined, according to Economic Times.

The dictionary service offered definitions of words in 28 languages and to translate terms from or into English.Although Google's attempt to compete with Wikipedia via its Knol offering has been a remarkably dismal failure for a company that tends to get things right, this is a tool that could displace plenty of other properties like dictionary.com and answers.com. Not only does it provide a really uncluttered interface, but the extensive translation tools are quite useful. While Google Translate is useful for passages or entire sites, often ELL students simply need to clarify a single word; Google Dictionary fills the bill, report The Register.

Better yet, for those of us who have adopted Google Apps, users can star words and definitions and store them in their Google accounts for reference. While this seems a small thing, like most things Google, it may lend itself to sharing and classroom use in the future as the company expands this offering.