dict
4 synonyms for dict, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Noun — An informal written shortening of dictionary, common in file names, software packages and note-taking.
Synonyms
Less common
Still standard English, but they carry more weight.
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
hash map
associative array
hash table
How to use dict
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
a Python dict
dict comprehension
nested dict
convert to a dict
Technical and informal; standard in Python documentation and code, rare outside computing.
Etymology
A shortening of dictionary.
Full origin of dict →Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a dict and a list?
A list holds items in order and you reach them by position, such as items[0]. A dict holds key-value pairs and you reach a value by its key, such as user['email']. Use a list when order matters and a dict when you need to look things up by name.
Are dicts ordered?
In Python, dicts have kept insertion order since version 3.7, so iterating over one returns keys in the order they were added. That is a property of the language version, not of the idea of a dictionary in general.
