All data is returned as JSON. However, JSON-encoded strings that appear in the data may contain HTML5 fragments, and some of the elements in these fragments may carry attributes that indicate they are representations of other kinds of dictionary data. In such cases, a data-macquarie-type attribute is always present. It may have a value from the following:Values that do not correspond to the names of endpoints are explained in the glossary below. For values that do, other data-* attributes may appear on the same element or its descendants. They are limited to the following:These correspond to the same attributes that may appear on objects returned by these endpoints. Values are unencoded except those of data-definitions which are given as JSON arrays. Please refer to the example responses at the Etymology, Usage notes and Definition text endpoints.Key terms#
Entry#
An individual component of the dictionary, containing a headword, pronunciation, definition, etc.Headword#
The word or words beginning an entry, which the rest of the entry defines and describes.Encyclopedic entry#
An entry referring to a specific real entity, such as a notable person, location, organisation, etc.Endpoint glossary#
Abbreviation#
A shortened form of the headword.Byname#
An additional or former name for an encyclopedic entry.Cross-reference#
A reference to another entry, sometimes including reference to a specific definition. Used where one entry specifically references another in its definition.Contextual note, Contextual word#
Uncommon, notes common collocations (e.g. 'sometimes followed by with', 'often preceded by can or may'). These italicised words are context words. May appear in definition text.Definition ID#
A string unique to each definition of an entry. Often three digits, but can take any format. Although two definitions appearing in the same entry will not share an ID, two definitions appearing in different entries might. Use the entry ID in combination with a definition ID to precisely identify a definition.Definition number#
A string that appears before a definition to indicate its order of appearance in the entry. Subdefinitions are indicated with an additional letter (a, b, c, ...). Ascending order is used.Definition text#
The text content of the definition.Definition prefix#
Used to provide context or extra information on a definition (e.g. 'agitato' has the definition prefix 'a musical direction', airworthy has 'of an aircraft'). Also used in encyclopedic entries for general context about a family.Entry ID#
A string unique to each entry of a database. A UUID.Etymology#
Some geographic information about an encyclopedic entry for a physical location, such as the area of a lake, height of a mountain, languages, currency, and capital city of a country.Grammatical note#
Extra information about the usage of a term in grammatical terms, where usage is non-standard or a word appears to end in a plural but is construed as singular (e.g. beware 'now only used as imperative of infinitive').Headword modifier#
Modifies the form of the headword, such as noting that a given definition is usually plural or capitalised (e.g. the definition of 'act' referring to legislation is marked 'often upper case'.)Illustrative phrase#
A short phrase given after a definition to illustrate the use of said definition. Australian illustrative phrases, where a specific Australian source is given, are returned as object with the source and date information.Inflection#
The inflected forms of the headword for a given definition, such as plural forms or past tense forms. Inflections are only given where they are irregular, meaning they do not follow the standard English patterns. Regular inflections are generally given in Search terms.| Part of speech | Tense | Inflection |
|---|
| Nouns | Plural | -s |
| Verbs | Present participle | -ing |
| Present tense | -s or -es |
| Past tense | -ed |
| Adjectives | Comparative | -er |
| Superlative | -est |
Label, Sublabel#
Information about the subject of the definition (e.g. Computing, Biology), region of origin (e.g. Originally US) or language usage (e.g. Colloquial, Archaic). Sublabels mark usage connotations (e.g. humorous, dated, pejorative).Language#
As appears on a tag inside etymology text, may mark up an actual language name (e.g. 'French'), a register (e.g. 'British colloquial'), a type of word (e.g. 'a contracted form'), etc.Part of speech#
The part of speech or word class of the definition (e.g. noun, verb, adjective, etc.)Pronunciation#
The pronunciation of the word in Australian English, per definition. Results are returned in IPA using the Mitchell-Delbridge system of transcribing Australian English, and as 'say' pronunciations. Keys for both systems can be found at https://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/pronunciation-keyRun-on entries#
Derivations of words that are in use but do not warrant their own entry (e.g. telepathy 'telepathic', 'telepathically').Information on chemical elements and isotopes, such as relative atomic mass, atomic number and density.Search terms#
Alternative forms of a headword, variants, or run-on entries, such as inflections or alternate spellings.Subhead, Encyclopedic subhead#
Modifies or specifies the headword in some way, usually by adding extra words. Often used in phrase definitions (e.g. the definition of 'get ahead of oneself' under headword 'ahead'), and encyclopedic entries for full names (e.g. 'Max Emilian' under the headword 'Verstappen').Subhead prefix#
Used in encyclopedic entries to denote relationships between entries on people with the same surname (e.g. 'his son').Symbol#
The mathematical or scientific symbol or a definition, such as chemical elements (e.g. tin 'Sn'), units of measurement (e.g. milligram 'mg'), or mathematical constants and functions (e.g. cosine 'cos').Usage note#
Additional information about the usage of a particular word, definition, pronunciation, etc.Variant#
An alternative form of a term, such as a variant spelling or synonym. Synonyms are only given as variants where the words are similar, otherwise are included at the end of the definition text following a semicolon. Modified at 2026-10-07 05:04:21
