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: Example
        url: examples/mediawiki-action-api-action-api-response-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/mediawiki-action-api-expand-templates-response-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/mediawiki-action-api-extract-page-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/mediawiki-action-api-open-search-response-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/mediawiki-action-api-parse-response-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/mediawiki-action-api-parse-section-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/mediawiki-action-api-query-extracts-response-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/mediawiki-action-api-query-revisions-response-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/mediawiki-action-api-query-search-response-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/mediawiki-action-api-revision-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/mediawiki-action-api-revision-page-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/mediawiki-action-api-search-hit-example.json
      - type: NaftikoCapability
        url: capabilities/mediawiki-action-api-expandtemplates.yaml
      - type: NaftikoCapability
        url: capabilities/mediawiki-action-api-opensearch.yaml
      - type: NaftikoCapability
        url: capabilities/mediawiki-action-api-parse.yaml
      - type: NaftikoCapability
        url: capabilities/mediawiki-action-api-query.yaml
  - 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: Example
        url: examples/rest-api-content-urls-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/rest-api-definition-entry-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/rest-api-definition-response-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/rest-api-html-transform-request-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/rest-api-language-entry-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/rest-api-lint-error-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/rest-api-page-summary-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/rest-api-revision-item-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/rest-api-revision-metadata-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/rest-api-wikitext-transform-request-example.json
      - type: NaftikoCapability
        url: capabilities/rest-api-definition.yaml
      - type: NaftikoCapability
        url: capabilities/rest-api-page-content.yaml
      - type: NaftikoCapability
        url: capabilities/rest-api-transform.yaml
  - 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: Example
        url: examples/core-rest-api-file-metadata-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/core-rest-api-history-count-response-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/core-rest-api-history-response-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/core-rest-api-latest-revision-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/core-rest-api-license-info-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/core-rest-api-page-source-response-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/core-rest-api-page-with-html-response-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/core-rest-api-revision-detail-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/core-rest-api-search-page-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/core-rest-api-search-response-example.json
      - type: NaftikoCapability
        url: capabilities/core-rest-api-file.yaml
      - type: NaftikoCapability
        url: capabilities/core-rest-api-history.yaml
      - type: NaftikoCapability
        url: capabilities/core-rest-api-page.yaml
      - type: NaftikoCapability
        url: capabilities/core-rest-api-search.yaml
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: SDK
    url: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Pywikibot
    title: Pywikibot (Python)
  - type: SDK
    url: https://github.com/mwclient/mwclient
    title: mwclient (Python)
  - type: SDK
    url: https://github.com/siddharthvp/mwn
    title: mwn (TypeScript/Node.js)
  - type: SDK
    url: https://github.com/nodemw/nodemw
    title: nodemw (Node.js)
  - type: SDK
    url: https://github.com/dmwilcox/wikitools3
    title: wikitools3 (Python)
  - type: SDK
    url: https://github.com/MER-C/wiki-java
    title: wiki-java (Java)
  - type: SDK
    url: https://github.com/Fastily/jwiki
    title: jwiki (Java)
  - type: SDK
    url: https://github.com/addshore/mediawiki-api-base
    title: mediawiki-api-base (PHP)
  - type: SDK
    url: https://github.com/wikimedia/mediawiki-ruby-api
    title: mediawiki-ruby-api (Ruby)
  - type: SDK
    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