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Is there a language activator or conceptual dictionary for French? I haven't been able to find a printed or online one.

More specifically, I am looking for a dictionary that gives related words to a particular word. For example, in the Reader's Digest Reverse Dictionary, the entry for "wall" has words such as alcove, niche, grout, etc. These are related words that a thesaurus doesn't give. This type of dictionary would help me a lot in learning vocabulary in a systematic way. Longman (the publisher) calls such a book a Language Activator, but they don't make one for French.

Tsundoku
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Chetan Crasta
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  • Apparently it's also called a conceptual dictionary, idealogical dictionary, or dictionnaire idéologique en français. – Brandin Sep 02 '22 at 13:05
  • Thanks for the info. I'll continue my search. – Chetan Crasta Sep 03 '22 at 08:46
  • @Lambie I have been teaching for 16 years. Yes, these dictionaries are not widely known, but I find them very useful. Feel free to have a look at Longman's Language Activator, it is still in print. Thanks to Brandin , I found Dictionnaire idéologique by Robertson on archive.org. I think it is an excellent reference book. Have a look. – Chetan Crasta Sep 09 '22 at 16:06
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    Lambie is right about the accepted definition of "reverse dictionary". However @Lambie's comment is irrelevant because the Reader's Digest Reverse Dictionary does not fit that definition. What this question is looking for is something similar to the Reader's Digest Reverse Dictionary and the Longman Language Activator (which was geared specifically at learners of English as a foreign language), but for French. Discussions about whether reverse dictionaries (in the accepted sense of the term) are helpful to language learners are irrelevant and should stop. – Tsundoku Sep 12 '22 at 16:01
  • @Tsundoku Did you by chance delete my comment? SE gets weirder by the day. You refer to it and it isn't there. It's not even a Cheshire cat's smile. – Lambie Sep 12 '22 at 17:29
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    @Lambie Comments about reverse dictionaries were overtaken by events and therefore deleted. – Tsundoku Sep 12 '22 at 20:32
  • @Tsundoku Really? Your comment that is less informative than mine stays, and mine that contained the actual definition on a reverse dictionary gets deleted. And now, you seem to be telling me what to do again. – Lambie Sep 12 '22 at 20:44
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    @Lambie since the question is not about reverse dictionaries, the definition of that type of dictionary is irrelevant to the question. – Tsundoku Sep 13 '22 at 14:03
  • @Tsundoku The original question was about reverse dictionaries. You edited it. And then, you said the term is irrelevant. Again, I find that to be in bad faith. All it does it make me look bad and it also removed the actual definition of "reverse dictionary". – Lambie Sep 13 '22 at 21:20
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    @Lambie The original question was not about reverse dictionaries in the generally accepted sense of that word, and you know that, because you pointed out what "reverse dictionary" means. The Reader's Digest Reverse Dictionary is not a reverse dictionary and it was clear from the rest of the question that a reverse dictionary is not what the question is looking for. – Tsundoku Sep 14 '22 at 08:21

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