Dictionaries in KOReader: offline lookups, Wikipedia and translation

Long-press a word in KOReader and a lookup panel appears. Out of the box it can reach online sources; with a few files copied on, it works entirely offline in whatever languages you read.

Offline dictionaries (StarDict)

KOReader reads the StarDict format — a small set of files per dictionary (.ifo, .dict or .dict.dz, .idx, sometimes .syn).

1. Get StarDict dictionaries. Common free sources are the FreeDict project (bilingual), GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English (GCIDE, a full English dictionary), and Wiktionary dumps repackaged as StarDict.
2. Put each dictionary in its own folder inside koreader/data/dict. So koreader/data/dict/gcide/ contains that dictionary’s files, koreader/data/dict/fra-eng/ the next, and so on.
3. In KOReader, open the menu, then the gear, then Dictionary settings, and confirm the dictionaries are listed and enabled. You can reorder them so your preferred one shows first.

Offline lookup is instant and needs no Wi-Fi, which is the main reason to set it up.

Online lookups

In the same dictionary settings you can enable:

• Wikipedia — full articles, in a chosen language, shown inside the lookup panel. Useful for names and places rather than word definitions.
• Translators — Google Translate and others, for a quick gloss of a word or a selected phrase.

These need Wi-Fi and are slower, so they are a supplement to offline dictionaries, not a replacement.

Making lookups quick

• The default is a long-press on a word. You can change or add to this in Taps and gestures — some people bind a corner tap or a short swipe to “show dictionary” so a single tap on a highlighted word opens it.
• Select a phrase (long-press and drag) and the same panel translates or defines the whole selection.
• In the lookup panel, the arrows cycle through your dictionaries without closing it, and there is a button to add the word to your vocabulary list if you use the built-in flashcard feature.

The short version

Copy two or three StarDict dictionaries into koreader/data/dict, each in its own folder, enable Wikipedia for names, and — if you look things up often — bind a gesture to the dictionary so it is one tap, not a press-and-hold.