What is "fantasdic"

Fantasdic is a DICT client. It is multiplatform although it is with the GNOME desktop that it will be the most visually consistent. It is written in the Ruby programming language.

By default, and unlike Stardict, it retrieves definitions from the network (e.g. internet) via the DICT protocol instead of a file on the hard drive. Therefore, users don't have to download and install dictionaries. Instead, in the settings, they can define the address of the DICT servers and databases that Fantasdic will query. It is possible, however, to have dictd (a DICT server) and various dictionaries installed locally, and set fantasdic to use localhost as the dictionary server.

Fantasdic can also be configured to read various dictionary formats directly, without the aid of a DICT server.