Linguabase vs. Oxford Languages

Different architectures for different problems.

The Core Difference

Oxford sells lookup data for embedding in products.
Linguabase is a semantic reasoning engine.

Oxford answers: “What does X mean?” and “What’s similar to X?”

Linguabase answers: “How does X connect to Y?” and “What’s between them?” and “Which sense of X connects to which sense of Y?”

Traditional dictionaries and thesauruses are designed for word substitution — helping writers replace one word with another. Linguabase is designed for concept exploration — understanding how ideas connect across meaning-space.

By the Numbers

Dimension Oxford SELD Linguabase
Architecture Dictionary + thesaurus cross-refs 7-source semantic network
Relationship count 600K synonyms 40M connections (400K vocabulary)
Relationship types 2 (synonym, antonym) Weighted by strength
Graph operations None (flat lookup) Pathfinding, distance, sense annotation
Sense handling IDs for disambiguation Balanced representation across senses
Directionality None Directional weights
Validation Human lexicographers Human + LLM + SWOW + confirmation filtering
False cognate handling Unknown 291K removed via LLM audit
Gestalt/experiential None Visual, sensory, cultural, emotional
Usage examples Example sentences 1.46M from literature, journalism, scholarly sources
Definitions Fragmented numbered senses Narrative paragraphs
Languages 50+ English only
Audio Yes No
Brand 150+ years, Oxford name New (IDEA.org)

Relationship Comparison

Oxford’s thesaurus is excellent at what it does — finding substitute words. But that’s a different problem than finding associated concepts.

"bank" — Oxford (thesaurus): Synonyms you could substitute bank1: edge, side, embankment, levee, border, verge, margin... bank2: financial institution, lender, savings and loan... "bank" — Linguabase: Concepts the word evokes riverbank: shore, riparian, sediment, erosion, muddy, reeds, fishing, overflow... finance: vault, teller, ATM, robbery, withdrawal, interest, commerce... pool: cushion, rail, billiards, snooker, carom, cue, angle... aviation: roll, turn, yaw, pitch, lean, maneuver, steep, swoop... storage: blood, sperm, organ, tissue, donor, cryogenic, biobank...

Oxford helps writers find substitute words. Linguabase helps applications find where users’ minds might go — including senses (pool shots, aviation banking, blood banks) that thesauruses don’t cover at all.

Definition Comparison

The clearest difference is in how definitions are structured.

Oxford “spring” (excerpt)

spring | spriNG | ──────────────────────────────────────────────────── VERB (past sprang | past participle sprung) ──────────────────────────────────────────────────── 1 move or jump suddenly upward or forward • move rapidly from constrained position • operate suddenly by mechanism • [with obj] cause game bird to rise • [with obj] informal: release a prisoner 2 (spring from) originate or arise from • appear suddenly or unexpectedly • (spring up) suddenly develop 3 (of wood) become warped or split 4 (spring for) N.Amer informal: pay for ──────────────────────────────────────────────────── NOUN ──────────────────────────────────────────────────── 1 the season after winter... 2 a resilient device (helical metal coil)... 3 a sudden jump upward... 4 a place where water wells up... 5 upward curvature of ship's deck... ──────────────────────────────────────────────────── [Plus phrases, derivatives, etymology = 50+ lines total]

Linguabase “spring”

The noun spring may describe the season following winter when days lengthen and plants start growing; a natural supply of water from the ground (mineral spring); or a device that returns to its original shape when force is removed. Spring also describes a lively quality, suggestive of the rebounding force of spring. To spring is to move suddenly and quickly, often upwards. An instance of this is also called a spring. Something that springs a leak suddenly starts leaking.

Oxford: 5 verb senses, 5 noun senses, sub-senses, phrases, derivatives, etymology — fragmented across 50+ lines. Designed for scholarly completeness.

Linguabase: One flowing paragraph covering all senses naturally. Designed for display and AI consumption.

What Oxford Does Well

What Linguabase Does That Oxford Can’t

When to Use Oxford

When to Use Linguabase

We’re Not Competing on Brand

Oxford has 150 years of brand equity. We have over a decade of graph engineering.

We’re not offering a cheaper Oxford. We’re offering something Oxford literally cannot provide: graph traversal through meaning-space with quality-rated, sense-aware, directional relationships.

If you need to embed dictionary lookups in an e-reader, use Oxford. If you need to navigate semantic space for games, AI, or exploration — that’s what we built.