Following are lists of notable Arabic dictionaries.
Title | Author | Date | Vocabulary | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Kitab al-'Ayn[n 1] (Arabic: كتاب العين) |
Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi (Arabic: الخليل بن أحمد الفراهيدي) (b. 718 - d. 791) |
8th century | Kitab al-Ayn was the first dictionary for the Arabic language.[1] | |
Kitab al-Jim[n 2] (Arabic: كتاب الجيم) a.k.a. Kitab al-Lughat or Kitab al-Huruf |
Abu Amr al-Shaybani (Arabic: أبو عمرو الشيباني) (b. ca. 738 - d. 828) |
8-9th century | The only copy is in the El Escorial Library.[2] | |
Al-Jamhara al-Lugha[n 3] (Arabic: جمهرة اللغة) a.k.a. Al-Jamhara fi al-Lugha (The all-embracing in language)[3] |
Ibn Duraid[4] (Arabic: ابن دريد) (b. 838 - d. 933) |
9-10th century | The dictionary was inspired in part by the earlier dictionary Kitab al-Ayn of al-Farahidi.[5] | |
Tahdhib al-Lugha[n 4] (Arabic: تهذيب اللغة) |
Abu Manshur al-Azhari al-Harawi (Arabic: أبو منصور الأزهري الهروي) (b. 895 - d. 981) |
10th century | The dictionary is important as a source of the Lisan al-Arab.[6] | |
Al-Muhit fi al-Lugha[n 5] (Arabic: المحيط في اللغة) |
Al-Sahib ibn Abbad (Arabic: الصاحب بن عبّاد) (b. 938 - d. 995) |
10th century | ||
Taj al-Lugha wa Sihah al-Arabiyya[n 6] (Arabic: تاج اللغة وصحاح العربية) shorter title: Taj al-Lugha or al-Sihah |
Ismail ibn Hammad al-Jawhari (Arabic: إسماعيل بن حماد الجوهري) (b. ? - d. 1009) |
10-11th century | It contains about 40,000 dictionary entries.[7] | The author died at Nishapur while attempting flight.[8] |
Mu`jam Maqayis al-Lugha[9](Arabic: معجم مقاييس اللغة; "Language Standards Compendium) | Ahmad Ibn Zakariyya al-Qazwini Ibn Faris | 11th century | ||
Al-Muhkam wa al-Muhit al-A'zam[n 7] (Arabic: المحكم والمحيط الأعظم) shorter title: Al-Muhkam |
Ibn Sidah (Arabic: ابن سيده) (b. 1007 - d. 1066) |
11th century | The author was a blind man.[10] | |
Lisan al-Arab[n 8] (Arabic: لسان العرب) |
Ibn Manzur (Arabic: ابن منظور) (b. 1233 - d. 1312) |
The dictionary was completed in 1290.[11] | It contains about 80,000 dictionary entries.[12] |
|
Al-Misbah al-munir[9](Arabic: المصباح المنير ; "The Enlightening Lamp") | Ahmed Al Maqri Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Ali Al Maqri Al Fayoumi | The dictionary dates to 1368 | ||
Al-Qamus al-Muhit wa al-Qabus al-Wasit[n 9] [n 10] (Arabic: القاموس المحيط، والقابوس الوسيط; "The Encompassing Ocean/Lexicon") shorter title: Al-Qamus al-Muhit |
Al-Firuzabadi (Arabic: الفيروزآبادي) (b. 1329 - d. 1414) |
The dictionary was completed in 1410.[13] | It contains about 60,000 dictionary entries.[14] | The dictionary served as the basis of later European dictionaries of Arabic.[15] |
Ahkam Bab al-I`rab `n Lughat al-A`rab (Arabic: أحكام باب الإعراب عن لغة الأعراب)[citation needed] | Germanus Farhat (1670–1732) | Printed by Rashid Dahdah (1813–1889) | A revision of Fairuzabadi’s Al-Qamus Al-Muheet. Arranged by word ending. | |
Taj al-Arus Min Jawahir al-Qamus[n 11] (Arabic: تاج العروس) shorter title: Taj al-Arus |
Abu al-Fayd Mohammad Murtada al-Zabidi[9] (Arabic: أبو الفيض محمد مرتضى الزبيدي b. 1731 - d. 1790) |
The dictionary was completed in 1774.[16] | It contains about 120,000 dictionary entries.[16] | |
Muhit al-Muhit[n 12] (Arabic: محيط المحيط) a.k.a. Qutr al-Muhit (The Diameter of the Ocean)[17] |
Butrus al-Bustani (Arabic: بطرس البستاني) (b. 1819 - d. 1883) |
The dictionary was completed in 1870.[17] | The author had dedicated the work to the Sultan Abdulaziz. The sultan awarded him with a higher medal and 250 golden liras.[18] | |
Al-Faraed Al-Hissan Min Qalaed Al-Lisan (Arabic: الفرائد الحسان من قلائد اللسان) | Ibrahim al-Yaziji (Arabic: إبراهيم اليازجي; b. 1847 - d. 1907) | 1870 | ||
Matn al-Lugha (Corpus of the language)[19] | Ahmad Rida (Arabic: أحمد رضا) (b. 1872 - d. 1953) |
1958 | ||
Lexicon of the Modern Arabic Language (Arabic: معجم اللغة العربية المعاصرة) |
Ahmad Mukhtar Omar | 2008 |
Influential Arabic dictionaries in Europe:
Influential Arabic dictionaries in modern usage: