How it works
From a typed word to a globe path — what Lexicon Earth fetches, what it invents, and how to read the result.
1. Search
You enter a word in any script Wiktionary supports (for example English, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, or Russian). The app looks up the matching page — trying common capitalizations for Latin scripts, Unicode normalization, and OpenSearch / fulltext when needed — then reads the language sections on that page. When your query’s script suggests a language (Arabic script → Arabic/Persian, Cyrillic → Russian, and similar), that section is preferred.
If several etymologies or language entries exist, you can choose which sense to load in the panel. Optional multi-source mode can also query Wikidata and Kaikki.
2. Parse a lineage
Etymology templates in Wiktionary (inheritance, borrowing, derivation, and related forms) are parsed into a chain of word-forms. Each form keeps its language label, gloss when available, and epistemic status (attested, reconstructed, disputed).
Extracted prose summaries are labeled as extracted text — not quotations of scholarly consensus.
3. Place forms on the map
Languages are mapped to approximate heartlands (a point for the language’s historical or modern center). That is an association for visualization, not evidence that a specific inscription or speaker lived at that coordinate.
When a language code is missing from our table, that form may appear in the panel without a map marker. The globe bridges mapped neighbors so the journey still reads as a path.
4. Read the journey
- Markers — one mapped form in the chain.
- Arcs — schematic links between consecutive mapped forms.
- Labels — word form plus origin place / civilization name when known.
- Journey slider — reveal the path over time.
- Panel — definition, timeline, relationship notes, and citations.
Example: Searching orange may show a chain through India, Persia, Arabia, and Western Europe. The arcs illustrate sequence in the extracted etymology — not a documented travel route.
5. Cache & offline
Successful lookups are stored locally. A small starter set ships with the app. After the first visit, a service worker can keep the shell, map data, and libraries available offline. New words still need the network.
Limits worth knowing
- Coverage follows Wiktionary: well-documented languages and lemmas work best; sparse entries may show a single form or no map path.
- We read the English-edition Wiktionary host (
en.wiktionary.org), which includes many non-English language sections — not every language edition of Wiktionary. - Reconstructed proto-forms are hypotheses; the UI marks them as such when possible.
- Multi-source mode is slower and may return alternate candidate senses.
- Always open the cited Wiktionary page for full context, footnotes, and debate.
Last updated: 13 October 2026