How many dictionaries were there? And how large were they? How fast are they on a one-by-one basis?
FWIW, on a PW2 (hot cache):
Code:
┌─(ROOT@kindle:pts/0)───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────(/mnt/us/koreader)─┐
└─(1.06:60%:21:46:92%:#)── time ./sdcv -02 data/dict quaint ──(Thu, Apr 16)─┘
Found 2 items, similar to quaint.
-->GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English
-->quaint
<p><b style="color: #00b">Quaint</b> <i>(?)</i>, <i style="color: #a00">a.</i> [OE. <span style="color: #8B4513">queint</span>, <span style="color: #8B4513">queynte</span>, <span style="color: #8B4513">coint</span>, prudent, wise, cunning, pretty, odd, OF. <span style="color: #8B4513">cointe</span> cultivated, amiable, agreeable, neat, fr. L. <span style="color: #8B4513">cognitus</span> known, p. p. of <span style="color: #8B4513">cognoscere</span> to know; <span style="color: #8B4513">con + noscere</span> (for <span style="color: #8B4513">gnoscere</span>) to know. See <a href="bword://Know">Know</a>, and cf. <a href="bword://Acquaint">Acquaint</a>, <a href="bword://Cognition">Cognition</a>.] <b>1.</b> Prudent; wise; hence, crafty; artful; wily. <span style="color: #00b">[Obs.]</span></p><p><i style="color: #33f">Clerks be full subtle and full <b>quaint</b>.</i> <small>Chaucer.</small></p><p><b>2.</b> Characterized by ingenuity or art; finely fashioned; skillfully wrought; elegant; graceful; nice; neat. <span style="color: #00b">[Archaic]</span> “ The <i>queynte</i> ring.” “ His <i>queynte</i> spear.” <small>Chaucer.</small> “ A shepherd young <i>quaint</i>.” <small>Chapman.</small></p><p><i style="color: #33f">Every look was coy and wondrous <b>quaint</b>.</i> <small>Spenser.</small></p><p><i style="color: #33f">To show bow <b>quaint</b> an orator you are.</i> <small>Shak.</small></p><p><b>3.</b> Curious and fanciful; affected; odd; whimsical; antique; archaic; singular; unusual; as, <span style="color: 33a"><i>quaint</i> architecture; a <i>quaint</i> expression.</span></p><p><i style="color: #33f">Some stroke of <b>quaint</b> yet simple pleasantry.</i> <small>Macaulay.</small></p><p><i style="color: #33f">An old, long-faced, long-bodied servant in <b>quaint</b> livery.</i> <small>W. Irving.</small></p><p><b>Syn.</b> -- <a href="bword://Quaint">Quaint</a>, <a href="bword://Odd">Odd</a>, <a href="bword://Antique">Antique</a>. <i>Antique</i> is applied to that which has come down from the ancients, or which is made to imitate some ancient work of art. <i>Odd</i> implies disharmony, incongruity, or unevenness. An <i>odd</i> thing or person is an exception to general rules of calculation and procedure, or expectation and common experience. In the current use of <i>quaint</i>, the two ideas of <i>odd</i> and <i>antique</i> are combined, and the word is commonly applied to that which is pleasing by reason of both these qualities. Thus, we speak of the <i>quaint</i> architecture of many old buildings in London; or a <i>quaint</i> expression, uniting at once the antique and the fanciful.</p>
-->Online Etymology Dictionary, ©Douglas Harper/etymonline.com
-->quaint
<dt>quaint</dt><dd>c.1200, <i>cointe</i>, <span style="color: #47A">"cunning, ingenious; proud,"</span> from Old French <i>cointe</i> <span style="color: #47A">"knowledgeable, well-informed; clever; arrogant, proud; elegant, gracious,"</span> from Latin <i>cognitus</i> <span style="color: #47A">"known, approved,"</span> past participle of <i>cognoscere</i> <span style="color: #47A">"get or come to know well"</span> (see <a href="bword://cognizance">cognizance</a>). Modern spelling is from early 14c.
<br/><br/>
Later in English, <span style="color: #47A">"elaborate, skillfully made"</span> (c.1300); <span style="color: #47A">"strange and clever"</span> (mid-14c.). Sense of <span style="color: #47A">"old-fashioned but charming"</span> is first attested 1795, and could describe the word itself, which had become rare after c.1700 (though it soon recovered popularity in this secondary sense). Related: <i>Quaintly</i>; <i>quaintness</i>.</dd>
- Real: 178ms User: 110ms System: 30ms Percent: 78% Cmd: ./sdcv -02 data/dict quaint MajFault: 21 VolContSw: 0 InvContSw: 231 -
I only have gcide, etymonline & the French XMLLittré installed.
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I have no idea how the dict selection works in the GUI (but I'm guessing it doesn't really do anything for performance, since the cost is likely still I/O involved in traversing/enumerating the data dir).