README file from
GithubWiktionary Sidebar
An Obsidian plugin that lets you look up any word in Wiktionary without leaving your vault.
Right-click any selected word → "Wiktionary: „word"" → definitions appear in a sidebar.
Features
- Works in both editor view and reading view
- Supports 7 languages: German, English, French, Italian, Swedish, Dutch, Spanish
- Each language can be toggled individually in settings
- Direct links to the source Wiktionary page for each language
- Shows structured entries: part of speech, definitions, etymology, synonyms, and more
- Respects Obsidian's light and dark themes via CSS variables
- Desktop only
Installation
From the Community Plugin Browser (recommended)
- Open Obsidian → Settings → Community Plugins → Browse
- Search for Wiktionary Sidebar
- Install and enable
Manual installation
- Download
main.js,manifest.json, andstyles.cssfrom the latest release - Copy them to
.obsidian/plugins/wiktionary-sidebar/in your vault - Enable the plugin in Settings → Community Plugins
Usage
- Select a word in any note (editor or reading view)
- Right-click → Wiktionary: „word"
- The sidebar opens with entries for all enabled languages
The sidebar updates every time you look up a new word and stays open until you close it.
Settings
Open Settings → Wiktionary Sidebar to toggle languages on or off:
| Language | Source | On by default |
|---|---|---|
| Deutsch | de.wiktionary.org | ✓ |
| English | en.wiktionary.org | ✓ |
| Français | fr.wiktionary.org | |
| Italiano | it.wiktionary.org | |
| Svenska | sv.wiktionary.org | |
| Nederlands | nl.wiktionary.org | |
| Español | es.wiktionary.org |
How it works
Each language is fetched from its own native Wiktionary edition via the MediaWiki action=parse API — German from de.wiktionary.org, English from en.wiktionary.org, and so on. This means words with special characters (e.g. „autonomía") are found correctly on their native edition. The HTML response is parsed locally — no data leaves your machine beyond the Wiktionary API request itself.
Compatibility
- Obsidian 0.15.0 or later
- Desktop only (Windows, macOS, Linux)
License
MIT