---
name: "word-list-compress"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "aspell"
version: "0.60.8.3-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/word-list-compress"
---

# word-list-compress(1)

word list compressor/decompressor for GNU Aspell

## NAME

word-list-compress - word list compressor/decompressor for GNU Aspell

## SYNOPSIS

**word-list-compress** **c**\[**ompress**\] \| **d**\[**ecompress**\]

## DESCRIPTION

**word-list-compress** compresses or decompresses sorted word lists for use with the GNU Aspell spell checker.

## COMMANDS

- **-c**, **c**, **compress**

  compress the plain text word list read from standard input.

- **-d**, **d**, **decompress**

  decompress the compressed word list read from standard input.

## EXAMPLES

Here are a few examples of how you can use *word-list-compress*

- word-list-compress **d** \<wordlist.cwl \>wordlist.txt

  Decompress file wordlist.cwl to text file wordlist.txt

- word-list-compress **c** \<wordlist.wl \>wordlist.cwl 2\>errors.txt

  Compress wordlist.wl to wordlist.cwl and send any error messages to a text file named errors.txt

- LC\_COLLATE=C sort -u \<wordlist.txt **\|** word-list-compress c \>wordlist.cwl

  Sort a word list, then pipe it to *word-list-compress* to create a compressed binary wordlist.cwl file.

- word-list-compress d \<words.cwl **\|** aspell create master ./words.rws

  Decompress a wordlist, then pipe it to *[aspell(1)](/aspell/1.md)* to create a spelling list.  Please check the *[aspell(1)](/aspell/1.md)* info manual for proper usage and options.

## TIPS

*Word-list-compress* is best used with sorted word list type files.  It is not a general purpose compression program since the resulting files may actually increase in size.

*Word-list-compress* accepts up to 255 text characters in the range of {0x21...0xFF}.  If your word list requires a larger character set for certain languages or longer length for multi-word, scientific, medical, technical or other use, then it is recommended that you compress your word list using *[prezip-bin(1)](/prezip-bin/1.md)*

## DIAGNOSTICS

*Word-list-compress* normally exits with a return code of 0.  If it encounters an error, a message is sent to standard error output (stderr), and *word-list-compress* exits with a non-zero return value.  Error messages are listed below:

- **(display help/usage message)**

  Unknown command given on the command line so *word-list-compress* displays a usage message to standard error output.

- **Corrupt Input**

  This is only for the decompression command **d**.  The input file is of an unknown format or the input file/stream is corrupted.  You may have some valid output, but *word-list-compress* could not complete the process.  If the input file is a compressed wordlist but you have no output file, then it may be a newer *[prezip-bin(1)](/prezip-bin/1.md)* version of compressed file, if so, try decompressing the file with *[prezip-bin(1)](/prezip-bin/1.md)* instead.

- **Output Data Error**

  The output is full, write protected, or has an error and can no longer be written to.

## SEE ALSO

[**aspell**(1)](/aspell/1.md), [**aspell-import**(1)](/aspell-import/1.md), [**prezip-bin**(1)](/prezip-bin/1.md), [**run-with-aspell**(1)](/run-with-aspell/1.md)

Aspell is fully documented in its Texinfo manual.  See the \`**aspell**' entry in **info** for more complete documentation.

## REPORTING BUGS

For help, see the Aspell homepage at \<http://aspell.net\> and send bug reports/comments to the Aspell user list at the above address.

## AUTHOR

This manual page was written by Aaron Lehmann \<aaronl@vitelus.com\>, Brian Nelson \<pyro@debian.org\> and Jose Da Silva \<digital@joescat.com\>.