Wiktionary

aid: wiktionary
name: Wiktionary
description: Wiktionary is the free, collaborative multilingual dictionary project of the Wikimedia Foundation, the dictionary
  sibling of Wikipedia. Programmatic access is exposed through the MediaWiki Action API at en.wiktionary.org/w/api.php, the
  older Wikimedia REST API at en.wiktionary.org/api/rest_v1/ (which provides Wiktionary-specific endpoints like /page/definition/{term}),
  and the newer MediaWiki Core REST API at en.wiktionary.org/w/rest.php. All Wiktionary content is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (and
  GFDL) and hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation.
url: https://en.wiktionary.org/w/api.php
specificationVersion: '0.20'
created: '2026-05-28'
modified: '2026-05-30'
x-type: opensource
x-tier: 1
x-tier-reason: enriched-full-pipeline-2026-05-30
x-source: public-apis/public-apis
x-category: Dictionaries
x-license: CC BY-SA 4.0
x-host: Wikimedia Foundation
tags:
- Dictionaries
- Open Source
- Wikimedia
- MediaWiki
- Linguistics
- Open Data
- Public APIs
apis:
- name: MediaWiki Action API (Wiktionary)
  description: The MediaWiki Action API is the original Wikimedia query/edit API exposed at /w/api.php on every Wikimedia
    project. For Wiktionary it provides access to wikitext definitions, page parsing, full-text search, and OpenSearch suggestions.
    Actions include action=query (prop=wikitext, prop=extracts, prop=revisions, list=search), action=parse (rendered wikitext
    HTML and section trees), action=opensearch (suggestions), and action=expandtemplates. Supports both GET and POST with
    format=json|xml.
  humanURL: https://en.wiktionary.org/w/api.php
  baseURL: https://en.wiktionary.org/w/api.php
  tags:
  - Dictionaries
  - MediaWiki
  - Wikitext
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://en.wiktionary.org/w/api.php
  - type: APIReference
    url: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/API:Main_page
  - type: GettingStarted
    url: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/API:Tutorial
  - type: Authentication
    url: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/API:Authentication
  - type: RateLimits
    url: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/API:Etiquette
  - type: Sandbox
    url: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Special:ApiSandbox
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/wiktionary-mediawiki-action-api-openapi-original.yml
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/mediawiki-action-api-action-api-response-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/mediawiki-action-api-expand-templates-response-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/mediawiki-action-api-extract-page-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/mediawiki-action-api-open-search-response-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/mediawiki-action-api-parse-response-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/mediawiki-action-api-parse-section-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/mediawiki-action-api-query-extracts-response-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/mediawiki-action-api-query-revisions-response-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/mediawiki-action-api-query-search-response-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/mediawiki-action-api-revision-page-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/mediawiki-action-api-revision-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/mediawiki-action-api-search-hit-schema.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/mediawiki-action-api-action-api-response-structure.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/mediawiki-action-api-expand-templates-response-structure.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/mediawiki-action-api-extract-page-structure.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/mediawiki-action-api-open-search-response-structure.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/mediawiki-action-api-parse-response-structure.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/mediawiki-action-api-parse-section-structure.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/mediawiki-action-api-query-extracts-response-structure.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/mediawiki-action-api-query-revisions-response-structure.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/mediawiki-action-api-query-search-response-structure.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/mediawiki-action-api-revision-page-structure.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/mediawiki-action-api-revision-structure.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/mediawiki-action-api-search-hit-structure.json
  - type: JSONLD
    url: json-ld/wiktionary-mediawiki-action-api-context.jsonld
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/mediawiki-action-api-action-api-response-example.json
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/mediawiki-action-api-expand-templates-response-example.json
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/mediawiki-action-api-extract-page-example.json
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/mediawiki-action-api-open-search-response-example.json
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/mediawiki-action-api-parse-response-example.json
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/mediawiki-action-api-parse-section-example.json
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/mediawiki-action-api-query-extracts-response-example.json
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/mediawiki-action-api-query-revisions-response-example.json
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/mediawiki-action-api-query-search-response-example.json
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/mediawiki-action-api-revision-example.json
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/mediawiki-action-api-revision-page-example.json
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/mediawiki-action-api-search-hit-example.json
- name: Wikimedia REST API (Wiktionary)
  description: The Wikimedia REST API (the older "RESTBase" service) is hosted per project at /api/rest_v1/ and includes Wiktionary-specific
    endpoints such as /page/definition/{term} which returns multilingual structured definitions parsed from wikitext, plus
    generic page endpoints (/page/html/{title}, /page/summary/{title}, /page/title/{title}, /page/mobile-html/{title}) and
    Parsoid transform endpoints (/transform/html/to/wikitext, /transform/wikitext/to/html, /transform/wikitext/to/lint). Capped
    at ~200 req/s, requires a unique User-Agent.
  humanURL: https://en.wiktionary.org/api/rest_v1/
  baseURL: https://en.wiktionary.org/api/rest_v1
  tags:
  - Dictionaries
  - Definitions
  - REST
  - Parsoid
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://en.wiktionary.org/api/rest_v1/
  - type: APIReference
    url: https://en.wiktionary.org/api/rest_v1/?spec
  - type: Sandbox
    url: https://en.wiktionary.org/api/rest_v1/?doc
  - type: RateLimits
    url: https://api.wikimedia.org/wiki/Rate_limits
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/wiktionary-rest-api-openapi-original.yml
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/rest-api-content-urls-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/rest-api-definition-entry-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/rest-api-definition-response-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/rest-api-html-transform-request-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/rest-api-language-entry-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/rest-api-lint-error-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/rest-api-page-summary-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/rest-api-revision-item-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/rest-api-revision-metadata-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/rest-api-wikitext-transform-request-schema.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/rest-api-content-urls-structure.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/rest-api-definition-entry-structure.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/rest-api-definition-response-structure.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/rest-api-html-transform-request-structure.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/rest-api-language-entry-structure.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/rest-api-lint-error-structure.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/rest-api-page-summary-structure.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/rest-api-revision-item-structure.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/rest-api-revision-metadata-structure.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/rest-api-wikitext-transform-request-structure.json
  - type: JSONLD
    url: json-ld/wiktionary-rest-api-context.jsonld
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/rest-api-content-urls-example.json
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/rest-api-definition-entry-example.json
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/rest-api-definition-response-example.json
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/rest-api-html-transform-request-example.json
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/rest-api-language-entry-example.json
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/rest-api-lint-error-example.json
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/rest-api-page-summary-example.json
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/rest-api-revision-item-example.json
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/rest-api-revision-metadata-example.json
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/rest-api-wikitext-transform-request-example.json
- name: MediaWiki Core REST API (Wiktionary)
  description: The newer MediaWiki Core REST API is exposed at /w/rest.php on every wiki. It offers a smaller, more streamlined
    surface than the Action API for fetching pages, history, search, files, and revisions. On Wiktionary it serves the same
    content as the Action API in a more developer-friendly JSON shape. Endpoints include /v1/page/{title}, /v1/page/{title}/html,
    /v1/page/{title}/history, /v1/search/page, /v1/search/title, /v1/file/{title}.
  humanURL: https://en.wiktionary.org/w/rest.php/v1
  baseURL: https://en.wiktionary.org/w/rest.php
  tags:
  - Dictionaries
  - REST
  - MediaWiki Core
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/API:REST_API
  - type: APIReference
    url: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/API:REST_API/Reference
  - type: Sandbox
    url: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Special:RestSandbox
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/wiktionary-core-rest-api-openapi-original.yml
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/core-rest-api-file-metadata-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/core-rest-api-history-count-response-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/core-rest-api-history-response-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/core-rest-api-latest-revision-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/core-rest-api-license-info-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/core-rest-api-page-source-response-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/core-rest-api-page-with-html-response-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/core-rest-api-revision-detail-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/core-rest-api-search-page-schema.json
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/core-rest-api-search-response-schema.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/core-rest-api-file-metadata-structure.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/core-rest-api-history-count-response-structure.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/core-rest-api-history-response-structure.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/core-rest-api-latest-revision-structure.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/core-rest-api-license-info-structure.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/core-rest-api-page-source-response-structure.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/core-rest-api-page-with-html-response-structure.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/core-rest-api-revision-detail-structure.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/core-rest-api-search-page-structure.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/core-rest-api-search-response-structure.json
  - type: JSONLD
    url: json-ld/wiktionary-core-rest-api-context.jsonld
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/core-rest-api-file-metadata-example.json
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/core-rest-api-history-count-response-example.json
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/core-rest-api-history-response-example.json
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/core-rest-api-latest-revision-example.json
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/core-rest-api-license-info-example.json
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/core-rest-api-page-source-response-example.json
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/core-rest-api-page-with-html-response-example.json
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/core-rest-api-revision-detail-example.json
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/core-rest-api-search-page-example.json
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/core-rest-api-search-response-example.json
common:
- type: Website
  url: https://en.wiktionary.org/
- type: DeveloperPortal
  url: https://api.wikimedia.org/
- type: Documentation
  url: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/API
- type: APIReference
  url: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/API:Main_page
- type: GitHubOrganization
  url: https://github.com/wikimedia
  title: Wikimedia GitHub Mirror
- type: GitHubOrganization
  url: https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/
  title: Wikimedia Gerrit (Canonical)
- type: Authentication
  url: https://api.wikimedia.org/wiki/Authentication
- type: RateLimits
  url: https://api.wikimedia.org/wiki/Rate_limits
- type: TermsOfService
  url: https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_Use
- type: PrivacyPolicy
  url: https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Privacy_policy
- type: Pricing
  url: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:About
  title: Free (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- type: StatusPage
  url: https://www.wikimediastatus.net/
- type: Blog
  url: https://diff.wikimedia.org/
- type: Support
  url: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Project:Support_desk
- type: ChangeLog
  url: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki_1.42
- type: SDKs
  url: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Pywikibot
  title: Pywikibot (Python)
- type: SDKs
  url: https://github.com/mwclient/mwclient
  title: mwclient (Python)
- type: SDKs
  url: https://github.com/siddharthvp/mwn
  title: mwn (TypeScript/Node.js)
- type: SDKs
  url: https://github.com/nodemw/nodemw
  title: nodemw (Node.js)
- type: SDKs
  url: https://github.com/dmwilcox/wikitools3
  title: wikitools3 (Python)
- type: SDKs
  url: https://github.com/MER-C/wiki-java
  title: wiki-java (Java)
- type: SDKs
  url: https://github.com/Fastily/jwiki
  title: jwiki (Java)
- type: SDKs
  url: https://github.com/addshore/mediawiki-api-base
  title: mediawiki-api-base (PHP)
- type: SDKs
  url: https://github.com/wikimedia/mediawiki-ruby-api
  title: mediawiki-ruby-api (Ruby)
- type: SDKs
  url: https://github.com/sadnub/mwparserfromhell
  title: mwparserfromhell (Python wikitext parser)
- type: CLI
  url: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Pywikibot
  title: Pywikibot CLI
- type: Tools
  url: https://github.com/Professor-G/MediaWikiAPI
  title: Wikidata Query Service
- type: GitHubRepository
  url: https://github.com/wikimedia/mediawiki
  title: MediaWiki Core
- type: GitHubRepository
  url: https://github.com/wikimedia/restbase
  title: RESTBase
- type: GitHubRepository
  url: https://github.com/wikimedia/parsoid
  title: Parsoid (Wikitext ↔ HTML)
- type: GitHubRepository
  url: https://github.com/wikimedia/pywikibot
  title: Pywikibot
- type: SpectralRules
  url: rules/wiktionary-spectral-rules.yml
- type: Vocabulary
  url: vocabulary/wiktionary-vocabulary.yml
- type: Features
  data:
  - name: Multilingual Definitions
    description: /page/definition/{term} returns dictionary entries broken down by source language, part of speech, definitions,
      and usage examples in structured JSON.
  - name: Wikitext Access
    description: action=query&prop=wikitext returns raw wikitext for any page, enabling clients to build their own parsers
      and extractors.
  - name: Rendered HTML
    description: /page/html/{title} and action=parse return Parsoid-generated HTML suitable for direct rendering in client
      apps.
  - name: OpenSearch Suggestions
    description: action=opensearch implements the OpenSearch suggestions protocol so Wiktionary can power autocomplete in
      any search UI.
  - name: Full-Text Search
    description: action=query&list=search and /v1/search/page expose the same ElasticSearch-backed full-text search Wiktionary
      uses internally.
  - name: Page Revisions and History
    description: Both APIs expose full revision history, supporting time-travel reads and change-detection workflows.
  - name: Wikitext ↔ HTML Transforms
    description: Parsoid /transform/* endpoints convert between wikitext and HTML round-trip-safely, useful for visual editors
      and bots.
  - name: OAuth 2.0 and BotPasswords
    description: Authenticated calls support OAuth 2.0 (via api.wikimedia.org), legacy OAuth 1.0a, and BotPassword scoped
      credentials.
  - name: CC BY-SA 4.0 License
    description: All Wiktionary content can be reused for any purpose with attribution and share-alike, including in commercial
      AI training corpora.
- type: UseCases
  data:
  - name: Dictionary Apps
    description: Embed definitions, etymologies, pronunciations, and translations directly into mobile or desktop dictionary
      apps.
  - name: Language-Learning Tools
    description: Power vocabulary lookups, flashcards, and reading-assistance browser extensions for learners of any language.
  - name: NLP and Linguistics Datasets
    description: Use bulk wikitext dumps and the definition API to build morphology, inflection, and word-sense datasets for
      NLP research.
  - name: Translation Memory
    description: Mine cross-language Wiktionary translation tables to seed bilingual dictionaries and translation memories.
  - name: Spell-Checkers and Tokenizers
    description: Use the OpenSearch and search endpoints to validate word existence and segment text in tokenizers.
  - name: AI Grounding and RAG
    description: Retrieve authoritative definitions to ground LLM responses about word meaning, etymology, and usage.
  - name: Crossword and Game Generation
    description: Generate clues, anagrams, and puzzle answers from Wiktionary's definitions and word lists.
  - name: Linguistic Research
    description: Query etymologies, declensions, pronunciations, and historical usage across hundreds of languages.
- type: Integrations
  data:
  - name: Wikipedia
    description: Shares infrastructure, accounts, and most APIs with Wikipedia; both run on MediaWiki under the Wikimedia
      Foundation.
  - name: Wikidata
    description: Wiktionary lexemes are increasingly linked to structured Wikidata lexeme entities (Lexeme namespace, Q-IDs,
      L-IDs).
  - name: Wikimedia Commons
    description: Pronunciation audio files and images embedded in Wiktionary pages live on Commons and are reachable via the
      same APIs.
  - name: Pywikibot
    description: The reference bot framework for automated edits, dumps, and maintenance scripts against Wiktionary.
  - name: Wikimedia Enterprise
    description: Commercial high-volume snapshots of Wikimedia content (Wikipedia first, with broader project coverage expanding);
      useful when REST rate limits are insufficient.
  - name: Toolforge
    description: Wikimedia-hosted PaaS for community tools that consume the Wiktionary APIs at scale without bringing your
      own infrastructure.
  - name: Hugging Face Datasets
    description: Pre-processed Wiktionary dumps are available on Hugging Face for immediate use in ML training pipelines.
- type: Solutions
  data:
  - name: Free Public APIs
    description: The MediaWiki Action API, Wikimedia REST API, and MediaWiki Core REST API are all free to use without registration,
      subject to the 200 req/s shared limit and User-Agent requirement.
  - name: Bulk Dumps
    description: dumps.wikimedia.org provides full XML and SQL exports of every Wikimedia project, refreshed at least monthly;
      the preferred channel for whole-corpus processing.
  - name: Wikimedia Enterprise
    description: Paid SLA-backed snapshots and streaming APIs for commercial reusers who need throughput, freshness, or attribution
      guarantees beyond what the free APIs provide.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com