<p>For the Simplified Chinese script, there is <a href="http://compling.hss.ntu.edu.sg/cow/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Chinese Open Wordnet</a> which you can <a href="http://compling.hss.ntu.edu.sg/omw/cgi-bin/wn-gridx.cgi?gridmode=cow" rel="nofollow noreferrer">search online</a>.</p>

<p>This is part of <a href="http://compling.hss.ntu.edu.sg/omw/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Open Multilingual Wordnet</a>, which also links to a smaller project called Chinese WordNet which was produced in Taiwan in 2010 and uses the Traditional Chinese script.  That one also has a 2012 version called Chinese WordNet 2, but the license of Chinese WordNet 2 is much more restrictive than that of the original Chinese WordNet or Chinese Open Wordnet.  Chinese WordNet 2 is non-commercial use only and no redistribution without permission, which means others have not integrated it with their online query systems and such.  You can still <a href="http://lope.linguistics.ntu.edu.tw/cwn2/download/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">download it</a> if you don't mind doing a bit of programming to read out the data (I suggest use the "CWN DataBase" link and the <code>output.sqlite</code> file; if you want to process it as text do <code>echo .dump|sqlite3 output.sqlite &gt; output.txt</code> on GNU/Linux).</p>

<p>However if you can convert your input to the Simplified Chinese script then you might as well just use Chinese Open Wordnet.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-23T12:04:43.897Z
2017-10-23T12:04:43.897Z
Silas S. Brown
<h2>CWN: Chinese Wordnet</h2>

<p>The <em>National Taiwan University</em> is working on the <a href="http://lope.linguistics.ntu.edu.tw/cwn/" rel="nofollow"><code>CWN</code> (Chinese Wordnet or 中文詞彙網路)</a>. The project seems to have started back in 2003.</p>

<h2>Online dictionary</h2>

<p>They provide an <a href="http://lope.linguistics.ntu.edu.tw/gcwn/" rel="nofollow">online dictionary for English←→Chinese</a> (雙語詞網自動翻譯).</p>

<h2>Database</h2>

<p>If you want to works with their data, you can download the <a href="http://lope.linguistics.ntu.edu.tw/cwn/CWN_DB/sqllite.data/" rel="nofollow">CWN DataBase as a SQLite file</a> from the official website.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-09-07T22:31:59.190Z
2013-09-07T22:31:59.190Z
Édouard Lopez
<p>You can take a look at : <a href="http://lope.linguistics.ntu.edu.tw/cwn/" rel="nofollow">http://lope.linguistics.ntu.edu.tw/cwn/</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-10-08T02:59:23.243Z
Hi shukai, thanks for your answer. Can you please improve your answer so that it contains more information than just a reference to a link. If you could add some information on exactly what the link is for or what is available on that site. Thanks.
going
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-10-08T14:46:12.683Z
This website looks very promising. It shows semantic relationships visually in a fairly neat way. I just checked a few words, but perhaps someone who has used it more can provide more information.
Olle Linge
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-10-14T06:17:53.127Z
I couldn't find anything visual on that site, @OlleLinge, but I wasn't able to read all the instructions. Was there a link to another page that I missed?
Don Kirkby
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-10-14T06:32:26.753Z
Yes. Click　線上檢查　at the top and enter your keyword. Here's a direct link, but I'm not sure if it will work: http://lope.linguistics.ntu.edu.tw/cwn/query/. You can also download, but I haven't tried that.
Olle Linge
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-10-08T01:47:09.623Z
2012-10-08T01:47:09.623Z
shukai
<p>Here it is: <a href="http://www.keenage.com/" rel="nofollow">Hownet</a>.</p>

<p>The website is mostly in Chinese. There does not seem to have an on-line version. I didn't try to download the whole program (database).</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-01-10T12:49:11.630Z
+1, looks interesting.  I'll need to take a deeper look before accepting any answer to this question.
Szabolcs
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-10-08T02:22:41.430Z
@Szabolcs The site has not been updated since 2010. Plus, to download the db you need to apply for a permission. I doubt whether they'll still have a look at the online applications :(
Nihil
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-01-10T12:41:40.127Z
2012-01-10T13:00:52.497Z
2012-01-10T13:00:52.497Z
fefe
<p>I strongly recommend <a href="http://www.zdic.net/" rel="nofollow">Zdic</a>, where you can search a character <a href="http://www.zdic.net/zd/py/" rel="nofollow">via pinyin</a> or <a href="http://www.zdic.net/zd/bs/" rel="nofollow">via radical</a>, and look up <a href="http://www.zdic.net/cd/" rel="nofollow">words</a> or <a href="http://www.zdic.net/cy/" rel="nofollow">four-character-idioms</a> with their synonyms and antonyms.</p>

<p>The website also provides additional resources, like <a href="http://sf.zdic.net/" rel="nofollow">a calligraphy viewer</a>, <a href="http://sc.zdic.net/" rel="nofollow">a poems index</a>, and <a href="http://bbs.zdic.net/index.php" rel="nofollow">a forum</a>. It is a website not only as a dictionary, but also a windows for Chinese culture.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-10-08T14:44:31.580Z
I agree that Zdic is very good, but I fail to see how it is relevant to the original question. As far as I know, Zdic doesn't show semantic relationships.
Olle Linge
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-10-08T15:11:49.153Z
@OlleLinge Hmm...I mean "synonym and antonym-relationships"
Ziyuan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-10-08T12:56:01.327Z
2012-10-08T12:56:01.327Z
Ziyuan
<p><a href="http://wordnet.princeton.edu/">WordNet</a> is a database of English words, which includes semantic relationships of words too.  It includes synonym and antonym-relationships, as well as "categories".  For example, it will tell me that a <a href="http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?o2=&amp;o0=1&amp;o8=1&amp;o1=1&amp;o7=&amp;o5=&amp;o9=&amp;o6=&amp;o3=&amp;o4=&amp;r=1&amp;s=cat&amp;i=1&amp;h=100000000000#c">tabby is a cat</a> and that a cat is an animal.</p>

<p>Is there anything comparable for Chinese, which is freely downloadable?</p>

<p>Anything that can be used online is already useful, but I'd prefer a database that I can download and analyse on my own computer.  I only need it for personal use (in case the license doesn't allow anything else).</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-01-15T14:36:33.857Z
Chinese, like many other languages, are constantly evolving. Historically, there have been effort to standardizing the language at points where it was too differentiated. There have been a few notable dictionaries that was created to extensively document the language, sometimes by the order of the Emperor of the time. 康熙字典 is one of the most notable dictionary, it is nearly 200 years old, but still one of the best dictionary with extensive documentation of origin of words. Back to modern China 中华大字典 is based on 康熙字典 and is created in 1915, also a good source. You can search and download them.
Gapton
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-10-08T02:00:55.017Z
Dictionaries are not the same as Wordnet.
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-10-08T03:52:51.180Z
康熙字典 is about 300 years old. The 字典考證, which fixed the original's many mistakes, is 181 years old.
dda
<resources><dictionary>
Is there a Chinese WordNet?
# Is there a Chinese WordNet?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-01-10)

[WordNet](http://wordnet.princeton.edu/) is a database of English words, which includes semantic relationships of words too. It includes synonym and antonym-relationships, as well as "categories". For example, it will tell me that a [tabby is a cat](http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?o2=&o0=1&o8=1&o1=1&o7=&o5=&o9=&o6=&o3=&o4=&r=1&s=cat&i=1&h=100000000000#c) and that a cat is an animal.

Is there anything comparable for Chinese, which is freely downloadable?

Anything that can be used online is already useful, but I'd prefer a database that I can download and analyse on my own computer. I only need it for personal use (in case the license doesn't allow anything else).

**Tags:** resources, dictionary

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Chinese, like many other languages, are constantly evolving. Historically, there have been effort to standardizing the language at points where it was too differentiated. There have been a few notable dictionaries that was created to extensively document the language, sometimes by the order of the Emperor of the time. 康熙字典 is one of the most notable dictionary, it is nearly 200 years old, but still one of the best dictionary with extensive documentation of origin of words. Back to modern China 中华大字典 is based on 康熙字典 and is created in 1915, also a good source. You can search and download them.  
> **username_2**: Dictionaries are not the same as Wordnet.  
> **username_3**: 康熙字典 is about 300 years old. The 字典考證, which fixed the original's many mistakes, is 181 years old.  

---

## 5 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2017-10-23. Score: 4

For the Simplified Chinese script, there is [Chinese Open Wordnet](http://compling.hss.ntu.edu.sg/cow/) which you can [search online](http://compling.hss.ntu.edu.sg/omw/cgi-bin/wn-gridx.cgi?gridmode=cow).

This is part of [Open Multilingual Wordnet](http://compling.hss.ntu.edu.sg/omw/), which also links to a smaller project called Chinese WordNet which was produced in Taiwan in 2010 and uses the Traditional Chinese script. That one also has a 2012 version called Chinese WordNet 2, but the license of Chinese WordNet 2 is much more restrictive than that of the original Chinese WordNet or Chinese Open Wordnet. Chinese WordNet 2 is non-commercial use only and no redistribution without permission, which means others have not integrated it with their online query systems and such. You can still [download it](http://lope.linguistics.ntu.edu.tw/cwn2/download/) if you don't mind doing a bit of programming to read out the data (I suggest use the "CWN DataBase" link and the `output.sqlite` file; if you want to process it as text do `echo .dump|sqlite3 output.sqlite > output.txt` on GNU/Linux).

However if you can convert your input to the Simplified Chinese script then you might as well just use Chinese Open Wordnet.


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2013-09-07. Score: 3

## CWN: Chinese Wordnet

The *National Taiwan University* is working on the [`CWN` (Chinese Wordnet or 中文詞彙網路)](http://lope.linguistics.ntu.edu.tw/cwn/). The project seems to have started back in 2003.

## Online dictionary

They provide an [online dictionary for English←→Chinese](http://lope.linguistics.ntu.edu.tw/gcwn/) (雙語詞網自動翻譯).

## Database

If you want to works with their data, you can download the [CWN DataBase as a SQLite file](http://lope.linguistics.ntu.edu.tw/cwn/CWN_DB/sqllite.data/) from the official website.


---

### Answer by username_6 on 2012-10-08. Score: 3

You can take a look at : <http://lope.linguistics.ntu.edu.tw/cwn/>

> **Comments:**
> **username_7**: Hi username_6, thanks for your answer. Can you please improve your answer so that it contains more information than just a reference to a link. If you could add some information on exactly what the link is for or what is available on that site. Thanks.  
> **username_8**: This website looks very promising. It shows semantic relationships visually in a fairly neat way. I just checked a few words, but perhaps someone who has used it more can provide more information.  
> **username_9**: I couldn't find anything visual on that site, @username_8, but I wasn't able to read all the instructions. Was there a link to another page that I missed?  
> **username_8**: Yes. Click　線上檢查　at the top and enter your keyword. Here's a direct link, but I'm not sure if it will work: http://lope.linguistics.ntu.edu.tw/cwn/query/. You can also download, but I haven't tried that.  

---

### Answer by username_10 on 2012-01-10. Score: 1

Here it is: [Hownet](http://www.keenage.com/).

The website is mostly in Chinese. There does not seem to have an on-line version. I didn't try to download the whole program (database).

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: +1, looks interesting.  I'll need to take a deeper look before accepting any answer to this question.  
> **username_11**: @username_0 The site has not been updated since 2010. Plus, to download the db you need to apply for a permission. I doubt whether they'll still have a look at the online applications :(  

---

### Answer by username_12 on 2012-10-08. Score: -1

I strongly recommend [Zdic](http://www.zdic.net/), where you can search a character [via pinyin](http://www.zdic.net/zd/py/) or [via radical](http://www.zdic.net/zd/bs/), and look up [words](http://www.zdic.net/cd/) or [four-character-idioms](http://www.zdic.net/cy/) with their synonyms and antonyms.

The website also provides additional resources, like [a calligraphy viewer](http://sf.zdic.net/), [a poems index](http://sc.zdic.net/), and [a forum](http://bbs.zdic.net/index.php). It is a website not only as a dictionary, but also a windows for Chinese culture.

> **Comments:**
> **username_8**: I agree that Zdic is very good, but I fail to see how it is relevant to the original question. As far as I know, Zdic doesn't show semantic relationships.  
> **username_12**: @username_8 Hmm...I mean "synonym and antonym-relationships"  

---

