How can one lookup synonyms in Pages?

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Level 1

1 points

How can one lookup synonyms in Pages?

Hi,
I would like to lookup synonyms for certain words from within Pages (ideally by highlighting a word and left-clicking on it from the popup menu). I couldn't find such a function.

Any suggestions how to achieve this (maybe via Applescript?).

Thanks in advance,
Marc Baaden

MacPro, Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Posted on Jul 30, 2007 3:14 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

i.3d

Level 2

420 points

Jul 30, 2007 7:19 AM in response to bam93

Too easy my friend,

There is a "hidden" (not really) feature of OSX, which enables you to look up the dictionary and the thesaurus from ANY Apple app (that's probably why there is no need to build the lookup into each app)

Put the cursor over a word and press COMMAND CTRLD - a dictionary will pop-up, hold the keys down and move the cursor to the bottom of the pop-up and switch to the Thesaurus. Hit "more" to actually start the dictionary app. Let go of the D, but keep holding the other keys, and move the mouse around. Any word you hover over will be explained - ain't that something?!

Enjoy and spread the news.

i.3d

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Answer 2

bam93 Author

Level 1

1 points

Jul 31, 2007 3:02 AM in response to i.3d

Excellent, thanks for the tip. Is this feature actually documented somewhere easy to find?

But this does not seem to work for French texts 😟 There seem to be an Oxford dictionary and an Oxford Thesaurus available. Can one install more? And in particular for other languages than English (I'd particularly like/need French and German)?

Thanks in advance,
Marc Baaden

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Answer 3

i.3d

Level 2

420 points

Jul 31, 2007 5:47 AM in response to bam93

I guess it would best to contact Apple, or Oxford Dictionary.
I do have a german and french Oxford for Palm OS, so chances are they are available for OSX as well.
Good luck.

i.3d

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Answer 4

Bekins

Level 3

734 points

Jul 31, 2007 7:39 AM in response to bam93

Depends on how you define "easy."
If you search Mac Help for "synonym", the first hit is *About Dictionary*:
+In some applications, such as Mail and Safari, you can use a shortcut. Select the word, Control-click it, and then choose Look up in Dictionary. You might also be able to look up the word by placing the mouse over it and pressing Command-Control-D.+

You can set the key equivalent for dictionary/thesaurus in System Preferences > Keyboard & Mouse > Keyboard Shortcuts > Dictionary. It's actually easier to use if you assign it to function key, IMHO.

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Answer 5

Jul 31, 2007 12:52 PM in response to bam93

I think support for the French language is less than impressive on the Mac. MS Word has built in French and German thesauri, but I do not know of any good independent dictionary or thesaurus. I would love being contradicted here, by the way.

Le Petit Robert is available of course, but you have to carry around the CD for random controls that you have not pirated the software, and I doubt it integrates well with Pages.

My German dictionary is WordLookup. Actually WordLookup is just a way to access dictionary data, but it works well, and you can call it from Pages using Services. It is not a thesaurus, but moving back and forth to the English translations, you can usually find good synonyms.

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Answer 6

DennisG

Level 5

6,518 points

Jul 31, 2007 1:06 PM in response to Magnus Lewan

I don't speak French, and my German is pathetic. But I've heard very good things about Spell Catcher. You can download a copy here.

-Dennis

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Answer 7

bam93 Author

Level 1

1 points

Aug 1, 2007 5:39 AM in response to bam93

Hi,

thanks for all your suggestions. I found a very nice application for my needs, which provides independent dictionaries for a whole bunch of applications, Pages included. It is specific to the French language and also provides grammar etc, etc, It's called Antidote RX [1].

Thanks,
Marc Baaden

[1] http://www.druide.com/antidote.html
Website in French 🙂

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