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A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic (Arabic-English)
This is a work of scholarship, accuracy and reliability that makes it one of the most significant contributions to Arabic lexicography. The practical arrangement of the entries and its comprehensiveness have made it the principal aid for the study of written Arabic.
1301 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 1961
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442 people want to read
About the author
Hans Wehr
18 books3 followersHans Bodo Gerhardt Wehr (German: [hans veːɐ̯]; 5 July 1909, Leipzig – 24 May 1981, Münster) was a German Arabist. A professor at the University of Münster from 1957–1974, he published the Arabisches Wörterbuch (1952), which was later published in an English edition as A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, edited by J Milton Cowan. For the dictionary Wehr created a transliteration scheme to represent the Arabic alphabet. The latest edition of the dictionary was published in 1995 and is Arabic–German only.
Wehr joined the National Socialist (Nazi) Party in 1940, and wrote an essay arguing that the German government should ally with "the Arabs" against England and France. The dictionary project was funded by the Nazi government, which intended to use it to translate Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf into Arabic.
Wehr joined the National Socialist (Nazi) Party in 1940, and wrote an essay arguing that the German government should ally with "the Arabs" against England and France. The dictionary project was funded by the Nazi government, which intended to use it to translate Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf into Arabic.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
May 2, 2021
This was issued to me during language training. The Arabic language is based off roots and all words are derived from these roots. Words are made and changed through the morphology of Arabic. This is a must to someone learning Arabic. Learning a language is more than phrases and memorized words. Arabic is certainly a challenge and properly utilizing this dictionary will take away some of the mystery with the Arabic language. I would definitely recommend this to anyone wanting to seriously learn Modern Standard Arabic. Thanks!
September 21, 2007
A truly amazing piece of scholarship and an invaluable tool for students of the Arabic language. It is a work of beauty and majesty. Yes, I realize that I am talking about a dictionary but it's the damn truth.
April 26, 2020
No Talmudic student or Muslim imam has spent more time in their holy books than I have looking up words in this amazing work of scholarship. My original paperback copy eventually just sort of disintegrated from over-use and my new copy isn’t such a great edition. The printing is rather low quality. The good news is that I don’t use it much these days.
I carried this thing around like a kid with a teddy bear during my stay at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California (every time that I write “Monterey” I can’t understand why they spelled it wrong [Monterrey]).
I carried this thing around like a kid with a teddy bear during my stay at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California (every time that I write “Monterey” I can’t understand why they spelled it wrong [Monterrey]).
January 29, 2024
4th edition is the best version. Unfortunately, they no longer print these arabic to english dictionaries.
January 9, 2026
czytam jak książkę fabularną.
February 4, 2019
The root-based system makes it very difficult for beginners to use, obviously. I would add that if you want to speak Arabic (and not just read it), you should be aware that this book will not offer you much help.
Because of the history of publishing and scholarship in the Arab world, there seem to be some Egypt-centric tendencies in the book as well.
I would only recommend this book to people who are studying Standard Arabic for purposes of scholarship, religious or historical study, or work in media. Unfortunately if you want to speak and converse in Arabic like an Arab, you may need any number of other dictionaries. As far as I know are published dictionaries in Egyptian, Yemeni, Gulf, Syrian and other dialects.
I would add that in many ways, this monstrous tome is merely a (partly) modernized abridgement of Lane’s lexicon, which gives many more variant forms, including vowel variants and epenthetic forms. Wehr has chosen some of these and, prescriptively, in favor of a more Egyptian understanding of Arabic, scrapped others. For instance, for “a fifth,” Lane has khums and khumus; Wehr keeps only the first form. For others, though, like ‘ear’, Wehr follows Lane in including both udhn and udhun. It seems that Wehr was following the lead of prescriptivist Arabs to help construct a coherent, sanitized Arabic.
Because of the history of publishing and scholarship in the Arab world, there seem to be some Egypt-centric tendencies in the book as well.
I would only recommend this book to people who are studying Standard Arabic for purposes of scholarship, religious or historical study, or work in media. Unfortunately if you want to speak and converse in Arabic like an Arab, you may need any number of other dictionaries. As far as I know are published dictionaries in Egyptian, Yemeni, Gulf, Syrian and other dialects.
I would add that in many ways, this monstrous tome is merely a (partly) modernized abridgement of Lane’s lexicon, which gives many more variant forms, including vowel variants and epenthetic forms. Wehr has chosen some of these and, prescriptively, in favor of a more Egyptian understanding of Arabic, scrapped others. For instance, for “a fifth,” Lane has khums and khumus; Wehr keeps only the first form. For others, though, like ‘ear’, Wehr follows Lane in including both udhn and udhun. It seems that Wehr was following the lead of prescriptivist Arabs to help construct a coherent, sanitized Arabic.
March 24, 2025
It may be necessary to emphasize that this is a dictionary in concern with the Classical Arabic literary language which was identical to both linguistic and literary stylings with the composition of the Quran and the advent and spread of Islam that followed.
A reader cannot learn any colloquialisms in dialect from the use of this book. There are other offhand sources for language acquisition in terms of colloquial Arabic dialects, most notably FSI.
Dictionary headings in alphabetical order, according to original Arabic headwords. This volume is not a phrase book for tourists, nor is it a grammar for first–time learners of the language.
When using this book, it is suggested that the reader have familiarity or reading comprehension of the Arabic script in order to discern the original Arabic language root words in proper fashion by means of pronunciation.
Roman script is also provided for all transliterations to entries used in this book.
With continued use, this book may not initially appear as all-inclusive or exhaustive, but it does force the user of this book to appreciate the original Classical Arabic literary language in all its complexity of linguistic nuance in relation to ongoing and continuing vernacular changes with the formally written Arabic language today.
A reader cannot learn any colloquialisms in dialect from the use of this book. There are other offhand sources for language acquisition in terms of colloquial Arabic dialects, most notably FSI.
Dictionary headings in alphabetical order, according to original Arabic headwords. This volume is not a phrase book for tourists, nor is it a grammar for first–time learners of the language.
When using this book, it is suggested that the reader have familiarity or reading comprehension of the Arabic script in order to discern the original Arabic language root words in proper fashion by means of pronunciation.
Roman script is also provided for all transliterations to entries used in this book.
With continued use, this book may not initially appear as all-inclusive or exhaustive, but it does force the user of this book to appreciate the original Classical Arabic literary language in all its complexity of linguistic nuance in relation to ongoing and continuing vernacular changes with the formally written Arabic language today.
October 20, 2008
Invaluable, a closest companion for a student of Arabic in Damascus. Would be nice to take it everywhere I went, but its a little bulky in the souks...a small pocket edition would be really handy. Arranged by FusHa root words, its very well organized and easy to use.
August 14, 2023
In life-long reading.
Prospective review:
4.5 stars [Language]
(U: 5, L: 4, M: 4.5)
Exact rating: 4.5
The best Arabic dictionary in English. Worth its weight in gold.
Even in this 1,301-page Compact Version, Wehr could have left out numerous intuitive cognates.
Prospective review:
4.5 stars [Language]
(U: 5, L: 4, M: 4.5)
Exact rating: 4.5
The best Arabic dictionary in English. Worth its weight in gold.
Even in this 1,301-page Compact Version, Wehr could have left out numerous intuitive cognates.
November 12, 2012
It's a dictionary, so there's not much that can be said about it as a review. [return]The layout is acceptable and considering I'm most likely using it to verify my own knowledge, I can't really call it out on any errors.
October 17, 2007
Incredibly easy to use, if you are familiar with your verb tables. It contains just about any FusHa root you could possibly need, assuming you're not looking for something so obscure that you need to use the full Hans Wehr. I just wish it had English-Arabic as well . . .
May 27, 2011
I was rather disgusted to find that this dictionary reads from left to right when Arabic is written and read from right to left. If you're serious about making this a good dictionary for a Semitic language that is a right-to-left one, why arrange it that way?
August 22, 2008
Hans Wehr was my lifeline for years. An absolutely indispensable reference book.
October 8, 2008
It's a love hate relationship.
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March 12, 2009Quite possibly the best book ever. As far as Arabic-English dictionaries are concerned.
May 28, 2009
This is definitive. You need no other Arabic-English dictionaries than this for everything but the most archaic or obscure words.
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May 8, 2010more than what i expected
August 31, 2012
Beware!! This Snowball edition is somewhat expurgated, so try and get the regular paperback edition of the absolute best Arabic dictionary--it's slightly more expensive but worth it.
January 19, 2016
The best Arabic dictionary--BUT make sure you get THIS edition, as the Snowball one is somewhat expurgated!
April 30, 2013
I use my Hans Wehr dictionary regularly ... bought a copy in Jordan back in 1984, great resource.
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January 21, 2016i think it's good
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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July 29, 2017One of the best dictionaries out for someone wanting to study Arabic. You will read it so much that your hands will wear it out, hans wehr, get it :)
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews