About 小词典
小词典 (xiǎo cídiǎn) are a few a small Chinese to English dictionary applications that are powered by CC-CEDICT. There are currently two versions of the dictionary application - the Desktop version and the iPhone™ / iPod™ touch version.
The dictionary applications are written by Rob Rohan; however, the CC-CEDICT dictionary itself is a community effort. The dictionary currently has around 75,000 words and phrases. These applications allow you to search that dictionary using Mandarin Pinyin, English, or Simplified Characters.
The iPhone™ / iPod™ touch version of 小词典 (which has been submitted to the App Store, but is yet to be released), is a great way to lookup Chinese characters on the go. Using the iPhone’s Chinese and drawing input keyboard, you can find how to pronounce and define characters in record time. This application has been an incredible help with my Chinese study - especially when trying to read Chinese newspapers and books.
The desktop version, which integrates with the Mac OS X built-in dictionary, is a fantastic resource when reading Chinese on your Mac. Since 小词典 installs into the Mac OS X Leopard system wide dictionary, you have access to Chinese character definition throughout your whole system. From Safari™ to TextEdit™ to Pages™, you can control click (right click) on a character and choose “Lookup In Dictionary” to define the Chinese character or word. In addition, you can hover over a character use the hot key control+command+d to get an inline definition, and you can even use spotlight to define characters!
If you are studying Chinese, or are planning a trip to China and you have an iPhone™ or iPod™ touch you might want to checkout the iPhone version of 小词典. If you are studying Chinese and use a Mac with Mac OS X Leopard, 小词典 desktop is a great tool to add to your studying arsenal.