Welcome to the online Arabic and Latin Glossary
The Arabic and Latin Glossary is a dictionary of the vocabulary of the Arabic–Latin translations of the Middle Ages.
The Glossary aims to improve our understanding of the Arabic influence on Latin scientific vocabulary, the shared intellectual history of West Asia, North Africa and Europe, and the identity and techniques of the translators. It is a lexical aid for modern editors of Latin texts translated from Arabic. At the same time, it fills a gap in Arabic lexicography by providing the first comprehensive lexicon for the vocabulary of classical Arabic sciences and philosophy. It documents a chapter of history that is important for the self-understanding of contemporary European culture: the great cultural achievement of Latin translators from Arabic.
The Glossary is currently based on 42 sources, which cover medicine, philosophy, theology, astrology, astronomy, mathematics, optics, botany, and zoology. Many of these texts are digitally available on the website of the Arabic and Latin Corpus. They were written by the following Arabic or Greek authors:
- Abū Maʿšar (Albumasar)
- Abū l-Ṣalt (Albuzale)
- Aristotle
- al-Biṭrūǧī (Alpetragius)
- al-Fārābī (Alfarabi)
- Ibn al-Ǧazzār
- Ibn al-Hayṯam (Alhazen)
- Yūḥannā ibn Māsawayh (Mesue)
- Ibn Rušd (Averroes)
- Abū Muḥammad ʿAbdallāh ibn Rušd (Averroes Iunior)
- Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna)
- Ibn Tūmart
- al-Kindī (Alkindi)
- al-Nayrīzī (Anaritius)
- Nicolaus Damascenus
- Ps.-Alfarabi
- Ps.-Aristotle
- Ptolemy
- al-Qabīṣī (Alcabitius)
- Ibn Zakariyyāʾ al-Rāzī (Rhazes)
- Ṯābit ibn Qurra (Thebit ben Corat)
The Glossary is growing constantly. At the moment, it contains the entire letters A to F and parts of the letter G (gal–gen).
The Latin-Arabic version currently comprises 5.013 Latin lemmata with 14.850 corresponding Arabic expressions and 30.519 searchable quotations.
The Arabic-Latin version comprises 7.231 Arabic lemmata.
The Arabic-English version comprises 7.182 Arabic lemmata.