"how come" meaning in All languages combined

See how come on Wiktionary

Adverb [English]

IPA: /haʊ kʌm/ Audio: En-US how come.ogg , en-au-how come.ogg
Etymology: Earliest use in its modern form can also be found in The Trial of Titus Oates, referring to a trial that took place in 1685: :* 1730, F. Hargrave, A Complete Collection of State-Trials and Proceedings for High-Treason, and Other Crimes and Misdemeanours; from the Reign of King Richard II. to the End of the Reign of King George I, volume 4: Mrs. A. Ireland It was on Saturday Morning, as I remember, the 3rd of August, the Saturday after St. Ignatius's Day. L. C. J. How come you remember so particularly, that it was then? In this text, it also co-occurs with forms such as "How come she to lie there?" and "How come you to remember those Days of the Month?". Compare West Frisian hoe kom (“how come”), Dutch hoe komt het (“how comes it; why”), Afrikaans hoekom (“how come; why”). According to Partridge's slang dictionary: US English, 1848, probably from older forms such as "How comes it that... ?" or "How does it come that... ?" and "How did it come to be like this?" Etymology templates: {{quote-book|en|author=F. Hargrave|text=Mrs. A. Ireland It was on Saturday Morning, as I remember, the 3rd of August, the Saturday after St. Ignatius's Day. L. C. J. How come you remember so particularly, that it was then?|title=A Complete Collection of State-Trials and Proceedings for High-Treason, and Other Crimes and Misdemeanours; from the Reign of King Richard II. to the End of the Reign of King George I|url=https://helsinkicorpus.arts.gla.ac.uk/browse.py?toc=author&pb=true&fs=50&pln=false&format=hc¶ms=true&highlight=&text=oates|vol=4|year=1730}} 1730, F. Hargrave, A Complete Collection of State-Trials and Proceedings for High-Treason, and Other Crimes and Misdemeanours; from the Reign of King Richard II. to the End of the Reign of King George I, volume 4: Mrs. A. Ireland It was on Saturday Morning, as I remember, the 3rd of August, the Saturday after St. Ignatius's Day. L. C. J. How come you remember so particularly, that it was then?, {{cog|fy|hoe kom|t=how come}} West Frisian hoe kom (“how come”), {{cog|nl|hoe komt het|t=how comes it; why}} Dutch hoe komt het (“how comes it; why”), {{cog|af|hoekom|t=how come; why}} Afrikaans hoekom (“how come; why”) Head templates: {{head|en|adverb}} how come
  1. (idiomatic, informal) Why; why is it; for what reason or purpose; due to what cause? Tags: idiomatic, informal Synonyms: why come, how's come Translations (why): hoekom (Afrikaans), ինչպես է ստացվում (inčʻpes ē stacʻvum) (Armenian), защо (zašto) (Bulgarian), как така (kak taka) (Bulgarian), com és? (Catalan), com així? (Catalan), 為什麼 /为什么 (wèishénme) (Chinese Mandarin), 怎麼 /怎么 (zěnme) (Chinese Mandarin), proč (Czech), jak to, že (Czech), jak to přijde, že (Czech), hoe komt het dat (Dutch), waarom (Dutch), kial (Esperanto), miksi (Finnish), minkä takia (Finnish), comment se fait-il que [formal] (French), comment se fait-ce que [formal] (French), comment ça se fait que [colloquial] (French), pourquoi (French), როგორ მოხდა (rogor moxda) (Georgian), wie kommt es dass (German), warum (German), wieso (German), πώς κι έτσι (pós ki étsi) (Greek), מַדּוּעַ (madúa') (Hebrew), hogyhogy (Hungarian), Af hverju (Icelandic), come mai (Italian), 何で (nande) (Japanese), (wae) (Korean), چرا (čerâ) (Persian), dlaczego (Polish), jakże (Polish), czemu (Polish), jak to (Polish), por quê (Portuguese), como (Portuguese), cum se face (Romanian), cum de [informal] (Romanian), почему́ же (počemú že) (Russian), почему́ (počemú) (Russian), почему́ э́то (počemú éto) (Russian), как так (kak tak) (Russian), как это так (kak eto tak) (Russian), ¿cómo es que (Spanish), ¿por qué (Spanish), hur kommer det sig (Swedish), varför (Swedish), bakit (Tagalog), як так (jak tak) (Ukrainian), tại sao (Vietnamese), tai sao (Vietnamese)
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  "pos": "adv",
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        "Why; why is it; for what reason or purpose; due to what cause?"
      ],
      "id": "en-how_come-en-adv-tyGlAzNO",
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          "Why",
          "why"
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          "reason",
          "reason"
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          "purpose"
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          "cause",
          "cause"
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        "(idiomatic, informal) Why; why is it; for what reason or purpose; due to what cause?"
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        {
          "word": "why come"
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        {
          "word": "how's come"
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        "informal"
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          "code": "af",
          "lang": "Afrikaans",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "hoekom"
        },
        {
          "code": "hy",
          "lang": "Armenian",
          "roman": "inčʻpes ē stacʻvum",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "ինչպես է ստացվում"
        },
        {
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "zašto",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "защо"
        },
        {
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "kak taka",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "как така"
        },
        {
          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "com és?"
        },
        {
          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "com així?"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "wèishénme",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "為什麼 /为什么"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "zěnme",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "怎麼 /怎么"
        },
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "proč"
        },
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "jak to, že"
        },
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "jak to přijde, že"
        },
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "hoe komt het dat"
        },
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "waarom"
        },
        {
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "kial"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "miksi"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "minkä takia"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "why",
          "tags": [
            "formal"
          ],
          "word": "comment se fait-il que"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "why",
          "tags": [
            "formal"
          ],
          "word": "comment se fait-ce que"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "why",
          "tags": [
            "colloquial"
          ],
          "word": "comment ça se fait que"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "pourquoi"
        },
        {
          "code": "ka",
          "lang": "Georgian",
          "roman": "rogor moxda",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "როგორ მოხდა"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "wie kommt es dass"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "warum"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "wieso"
        },
        {
          "code": "el",
          "lang": "Greek",
          "roman": "pós ki étsi",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "πώς κι έτσι"
        },
        {
          "code": "he",
          "lang": "Hebrew",
          "roman": "madúa'",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "מַדּוּעַ"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "hogyhogy"
        },
        {
          "code": "is",
          "lang": "Icelandic",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "Af hverju"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "come mai"
        },
        {
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "nande",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "何で"
        },
        {
          "code": "ko",
          "lang": "Korean",
          "roman": "wae",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "왜"
        },
        {
          "code": "fa",
          "lang": "Persian",
          "roman": "čerâ",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "چرا"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "dlaczego"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "jakże"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "czemu"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "jak to"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "por quê"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "como"
        },
        {
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "cum se face"
        },
        {
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "why",
          "tags": [
            "informal"
          ],
          "word": "cum de"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "počemú že",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "почему́ же"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "počemú",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "почему́"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "počemú éto",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "почему́ э́то"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "kak tak",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "как так"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "kak eto tak",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "как это так"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "¿cómo es que"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "¿por qué"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "hur kommer det sig"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "varför"
        },
        {
          "code": "tl",
          "lang": "Tagalog",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "bakit"
        },
        {
          "code": "uk",
          "lang": "Ukrainian",
          "roman": "jak tak",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "як так"
        },
        {
          "code": "vi",
          "lang": "Vietnamese",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "tại sao"
        },
        {
          "code": "vi",
          "lang": "Vietnamese",
          "sense": "why",
          "word": "tai sao"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/haʊ kʌm/"
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      "args": {
        "1": "fy",
        "2": "hoe kom",
        "t": "how come"
      },
      "expansion": "West Frisian hoe kom (“how come”)",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "hoe komt het",
        "t": "how comes it; why"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch hoe komt het (“how comes it; why”)",
      "name": "cog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "af",
        "2": "hoekom",
        "t": "how come; why"
      },
      "expansion": "Afrikaans hoekom (“how come; why”)",
      "name": "cog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Earliest use in its modern form can also be found in The Trial of Titus Oates, referring to a trial that took place in 1685:\n:*\n1730, F. Hargrave, A Complete Collection of State-Trials and Proceedings for High-Treason, and Other Crimes and Misdemeanours; from the Reign of King Richard II. to the End of the Reign of King George I, volume 4:\nMrs. A. Ireland It was on Saturday Morning, as I remember, the 3rd of August, the Saturday after St. Ignatius's Day.\nL. C. J. How come you remember so particularly, that it was then?\nIn this text, it also co-occurs with forms such as \"How come she to lie there?\" and \"How come you to remember those Days of the Month?\".\nCompare West Frisian hoe kom (“how come”), Dutch hoe komt het (“how comes it; why”), Afrikaans hoekom (“how come; why”).\nAccording to Partridge's slang dictionary: US English, 1848, probably from older forms such as \"How comes it that... ?\" or \"How does it come that... ?\" and \"How did it come to be like this?\"",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "adverb"
      },
      "expansion": "how come",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English adverbs",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English informal terms",
        "English interrogative adverbs",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Terms with Afrikaans translations",
        "Terms with Armenian translations",
        "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
        "Terms with Catalan translations",
        "Terms with Czech translations",
        "Terms with Dutch translations",
        "Terms with Esperanto translations",
        "Terms with Finnish translations",
        "Terms with French translations",
        "Terms with Georgian translations",
        "Terms with German translations",
        "Terms with Greek translations",
        "Terms with Hebrew translations",
        "Terms with Hungarian translations",
        "Terms with Icelandic translations",
        "Terms with Italian translations",
        "Terms with Japanese translations",
        "Terms with Korean translations",
        "Terms with Mandarin translations",
        "Terms with Persian translations",
        "Terms with Polish translations",
        "Terms with Portuguese translations",
        "Terms with Romanian translations",
        "Terms with Russian translations",
        "Terms with Spanish translations",
        "Terms with Swedish translations",
        "Terms with Tagalog translations",
        "Terms with Ukrainian translations",
        "Terms with Vietnamese translations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              0,
              8
            ]
          ],
          "text": "How come you didn’t leave when you had the chance?",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Why; why is it; for what reason or purpose; due to what cause?"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Why",
          "why"
        ],
        [
          "reason",
          "reason"
        ],
        [
          "purpose",
          "purpose"
        ],
        [
          "cause",
          "cause"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, informal) Why; why is it; for what reason or purpose; due to what cause?"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "why come"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "informal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/haʊ kʌm/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-US how come.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/60/En-US_how_come.ogg/En-US_how_come.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/En-US_how_come.ogg"
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-au-how come.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/d4/En-au-how_come.ogg/En-au-how_come.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/En-au-how_come.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "how's come"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "af",
      "lang": "Afrikaans",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "hoekom"
    },
    {
      "code": "hy",
      "lang": "Armenian",
      "roman": "inčʻpes ē stacʻvum",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "ինչպես է ստացվում"
    },
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "zašto",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "защо"
    },
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "kak taka",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "как така"
    },
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "com és?"
    },
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "com així?"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "wèishénme",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "為什麼 /为什么"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "zěnme",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "怎麼 /怎么"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "proč"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "jak to, že"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "jak to přijde, že"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "hoe komt het dat"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "waarom"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "kial"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "miksi"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "minkä takia"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "why",
      "tags": [
        "formal"
      ],
      "word": "comment se fait-il que"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "why",
      "tags": [
        "formal"
      ],
      "word": "comment se fait-ce que"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "why",
      "tags": [
        "colloquial"
      ],
      "word": "comment ça se fait que"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "pourquoi"
    },
    {
      "code": "ka",
      "lang": "Georgian",
      "roman": "rogor moxda",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "როგორ მოხდა"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "wie kommt es dass"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "warum"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "wieso"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "roman": "pós ki étsi",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "πώς κι έτσι"
    },
    {
      "code": "he",
      "lang": "Hebrew",
      "roman": "madúa'",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "מַדּוּעַ"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "hogyhogy"
    },
    {
      "code": "is",
      "lang": "Icelandic",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "Af hverju"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "come mai"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "nande",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "何で"
    },
    {
      "code": "ko",
      "lang": "Korean",
      "roman": "wae",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "왜"
    },
    {
      "code": "fa",
      "lang": "Persian",
      "roman": "čerâ",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "چرا"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "dlaczego"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "jakże"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "czemu"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "jak to"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "por quê"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "como"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "cum se face"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "why",
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ],
      "word": "cum de"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "počemú že",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "почему́ же"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "počemú",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "почему́"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "počemú éto",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "почему́ э́то"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "kak tak",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "как так"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "kak eto tak",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "как это так"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "¿cómo es que"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "¿por qué"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "hur kommer det sig"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "varför"
    },
    {
      "code": "tl",
      "lang": "Tagalog",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "bakit"
    },
    {
      "code": "uk",
      "lang": "Ukrainian",
      "roman": "jak tak",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "як так"
    },
    {
      "code": "vi",
      "lang": "Vietnamese",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "tại sao"
    },
    {
      "code": "vi",
      "lang": "Vietnamese",
      "sense": "why",
      "word": "tai sao"
    }
  ],
  "word": "how come"
}

Download raw JSONL data for how come meaning in All languages combined (9.5kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-05-10 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-05-01 using wiktextract (85b9f46 and 1b6da77). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.