"Add" disappears from Dictionary

[Martin Nelson]

This has happened to me before and seems to come and go, but I can¹t
remember how to fix it. If I type an unfamiliar word that I would then like
to add to my dictionary I find that the ³Add² command is grayed out. What do
I do?
Thanks,
Martin
--
I'm running
Macintosh G4
Dual 800
1 GB RAM
OS X.2.8
Word X for Mac, Service Release 1

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

You need to enable a Custom Dictionary, as the words you Add go into your
personal custom dictionary. In Preferences, Spelling&Grammar, click on
Dictionaries... to manage them. The checked ones are loaded. If there is
nothing in the list, you may need to create a Custom Dictionary (click New
in the dialog).

If you assigned the custom dictionary a language (not necessary, and
impossible with Spanish because of a bug), then Add may be grayed out
because the language assigned to the word does not match the language
assigned to the dictionary.

Help for "custom dictionary" actually looks to be rather helpful, at least
in Word 2004, you didn't mention your version.