Dictionary Comparison
Compare how 5 Estonian dictionaries define the same words. 21,234 words appear in 2+ dictionaries, revealing differences between standard, dialectal, and specialized definitions.
What is Dictionary Comparison?
This explorer lets you look up any of the 189,044 headwords found across five Estonian dictionaries and see their definitions side by side. When multiple dictionaries cover the same word, differences in meaning, usage notes, and regional examples become visible, making it a practical tool for studying how standard Estonian, dialectal forms, and specialised vocabularies diverge.
The Five Dictionaries
EKSS (Eesti keele seletav sõnaraamat) — the standard Estonian explanatory dictionary. Provides normative definitions, part-of-speech labels, and literary usage examples.
EMS (Eesti murrete sõnaraamat) — the Estonian dialect dictionary. Covers regional vocabulary with phonetic transcriptions and parish-level provenance.
Idamurre (Idamurde sõnaraamat) — a dictionary focused on the Eastern Estonian dialects (Kodavere, Torma, Laiuse, etc.), with rich local examples.
Seto (Seto sõnaraamat) — a dictionary of the Seto dialect, preserving South-Estonian vocabulary distinct from standard Estonian.
Mõistatuste (Mõistatuste sõnaraamat) — a riddle dictionary that indexes words appearing in Estonian riddle traditions, linking vocabulary to folk genres.
Browsing by Letter
Click any letter tab to load all headwords starting with that letter. Words are shown as clickable tags; bold green text means the word appears in more than one dictionary, with the number beside it indicating how many. Click a word to see its full dictionary cards.
Searching
Type at least two characters in the search box to see autocomplete suggestions. Press Enter or click a suggestion to jump to the word. The search first tries an exact match, then case-insensitive, then prefix matches. Use the dropdown filter (2+, 3+, 4+, 5 dictionaries) to narrow results to words with multi-dictionary coverage.
Dictionary Cards
Each card is colour-coded by dictionary. Cards may include: a part-of-speech or morphological label, one or more definitions (bulleted), variant forms, and usage examples in italics. Comparing cards for the same headword reveals how standard and dialectal dictionaries describe the same concept differently.
Overlap Statistics
The "Dictionary Overlap" section at the bottom shows how many headwords each pair of dictionaries shares. High overlap (e.g., EKSS and EMS) means both cover common Estonian vocabulary; low overlap (e.g., Seto and Mõistatuste) signals minimal intersection between a regional dialect and a genre-specific collection.
Random Word
Click "Random word" to jump to a randomly selected entry that meets the current dictionary-count filter. This is useful for serendipitous exploration of unfamiliar dialectal or archaic vocabulary.