Tongan-English Dictionary

C. Maxwell Churchward's Tongan-English Dictionary, for iPhone and iPad.

The most complete digital record of the Tongan language: 37,428 entries and more than 43,000 definitions, hand-transcribed from Churchward's 1959 dictionary and searchable in both directions.

Whether you grew up hearing Tongan at home and want to understand more of it, or you're learning the language for the first time, it's here whenever you need it.

SEARCH THE WAY YOU SPEAK Macrons and glottal stops are awkward to type on a phone, so you never have to. Type "faele" and the app finds "fa'ele". Search Tongan to find the English, or English to find the Tongan — same box, both directions. And when the word itself escapes you, describe it: the app searches inside every definition, not just the headwords.

FOLLOW THE LANGUAGE More than 63,000 cross-references are tappable. Jump from one entry to a related term and back again without ever losing your place.

ROOM TO READ On iPhone you get one word at a time, full width. On iPad the word list sits beside the definition, so following a cross-reference never costs you your spot in the list. Light, dark and system themes, plus a choice of app icons.

WORKS COMPLETELY OFFLINE The entire dictionary lives on your device. No account, no connection required — on a plane, in the islands, or anywhere the signal runs out.

A LIVING TRANSCRIPTION Every entry was transcribed by hand from the printed dictionary, and that work is ongoing. Corrections and refinements ship regularly, and you can report a mistake from the bottom of any entry.

'Ofa atu