Latindictionary.io vs. Whitaker’s Words: Updating a Legend

For many Latinists, William Whitaker’s Words is the first and last word in digital dictionaries. It is a legendary tool that has powered the Latin internet for decades. But in 2025, even legends need an update.

The Hook: Updating a Legend.

Whitaker's Words is a "black and white" terminal tool that hasn't changed its interface in thirty years. We’ve taken that same data reliability and given it the UI it deserves.

The Advantage: Visual, Searchable, and Educational

The key advantage of latindictionary.io is that it takes the core Whitaker data and makes it visual and interactive.

Whitaker's requires you to read through abbreviated, terminal-style output that can be cryptic for beginners. We translate those abbreviations into plain English and present them in a clean, searchable format.

"Whitaker's on Steroids"

• Visual Inflection Tables: Instead of just getting a list of possible parses, you get full, beautiful tables that help you see the patterns in the language.
• Searchable Headwords: Our search engine is smarter. It understands misspellings, syncopated forms, and the nuances of the Latin alphabet.
• Modern Features: Whitaker's doesn't have Flashcards, a Daily Game, or a Sentence Analyzer. We do.

The Angle: Data Reliability + Modern UI

We aren't replacing Whitaker's; we're evolving it. You get the same "Gold Standard" of data reliability that generations of scholars have trusted, but with the user experience of a modern app.

If you love the accuracy of Whitaker's but hate the 1990s terminal interface, latindictionary.io is exactly what you've been waiting for.