August 05, 2008

TheFreeDictionary.com’s Multilingual Offerings Expand Exponentially

HUNTINGDON VALLEY, PA, August 15, 2008 - Farlex, Inc., publisher of the world's most comprehensive database of online reference material, has announced the unprecedented release of its newest multilingual dictionary content, available now in more than 40 languages. TheFreeDictionary.com’s popular homepage has also been translated into 10 different languages, a development that gives international visitors the ability to access the site’s user-friendly interface in their own native languages. This release builds upon TheFreeDictionary’s initial foray into multilingual content hosting, which took place in May and included the addition of four foreign language dictionaries to the site’s already impressive array of reference information.

Earlier this month, Farlex announced that TheFreeDictionary.com had reached an exciting milestone, welcoming its billionth visitor in just five years. At that time, Farlex’s founders voiced their commitment to making TheFreeDictionary the best reference tool on the web, assuring their users that they would continue to improve and expand the site’s many educational offerings. Today, Farlex honored that commitment with the introduction of TheFreeDictionary’s user-friendly, fully customizable homepage in an additional 10 languages: Chinese (Simplified), Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.

The customizable homepage format has been lauded for its versatility, organization, and clarity—users can simply add, remove, drag, and drop content windows. An innovative mail feature lets users view messages in their email inboxes, while a picture option allows them to upload their favorite photos for display directly on their homepage. Users can also add their own bookmarks and RSS and Atom feeds from anywhere on the web. These features are available free of charge, can be accessed from any modern browser, and do not require any installation, download, or additional software.

“We know that our site is a valuable educational tool,” said Nick Simonov, co-founder and president of Farlex, Inc., “and our team has been working tirelessly to ensure to that the new multilingual content is available to students as they return to school this fall. We have worked toward this release for a number of years, and it is intensely gratifying to see all of our hard work come to fruition.”

TheFreeDictionary.com debuted as a simple, free online dictionary catering to U.S. customers and has since evolved into one of the most authoritative reference sites on the web, serving a global network of users. In May, Farlex announced the largest single addition of reference material to TheFreeDictionary, including, for the first time, foreign language resources. The intensely positive user response to those four initial foreign language dictionaries encouraged the development team to further enhance the site’s multilingual offerings, and the newly expanded translations section now allows users to translate dictionary terms from English into 42 different languages.

Steve Boymel, co-founder and executive vice president of Farlex, Inc., is thrilled with the site’s development. “In a matter of months, TheFreeDictionary went from being an English-only site to providing dictionary translations in 42 languages. We are now in a position to expand into virtually any language in the world, and we plan to continue on this path.”

About TheFreeDictionary.com:

Launched in the spring of 2003, TheFreeDictionary.com has quickly become one of the most comprehensive reference resources on the Web. From its beginnings as a simple dictionary of everyday terms, TheFreeDictionary.com has grown to include medical, legal, and computer dictionaries, a multilingual dictionary tool, a thesaurus, several encyclopedias, a literature reference library, and a search engine. A prime online vehicle for active information seekers, TheFreeDictionary.com has been accessed by more than one billion visitors.

About Farlex, Inc.:

Farlex, Inc. (www.farlex.com) is an independent, privately held provider of online reference products based in Huntingdon Valley, Founded in 2004, Farlex, Inc. provides innovative, easy-to-use reference and learning tools. Farlex's flagship websites, www.TheFreeDictionary.com and www.TheFreeLibrary.com, contain over five million pages of books, periodicals, and reference information from the world's most respected sources.