Inside the Arabic Language Academy’s Race to Finish Al-Mu’jam Al-Kabeer

The Arabic Language Academy in Cairo (مَجْمَعُ اللُّغَةِ العَرَبِيَّةِ بِالقَاهِرَةِ) was founded in 1932 and is the second oldest language academy in the Arab world after the Damascus Academy, established in 1919.

Affiliated administratively and financially with the Egyptian Ministry of Higher Education, the Academy’s core commitment is advancing the Arabic language through authoritative and comprehensive lexicography. 

The Birth of “The Great Dictionary”

Much of the Academy’s work has centred on compiling المعجم الكبير (the Great Dictionary), an encyclopedic lexicon intended to document Arabic across all historical periods and registers as a continuous, evolving language. Although planned since the Academy’s founding, systematic work began in 1946, and the first volume, covering the letter hamza (ء), appeared in 1956, establishing the project’s scholarly method: precise definitions, extensive citation of classical sources, and inclusion of both common and rare vocabulary.

Since then, the dictionary has progressed steadily in alphabetical order, tracing semantic change, recording historical and regional usage, and illustrating meanings with examples from literary and heritage texts.

Conceived as a comprehensive dīwān of Arabic vocabulary, المعجم الكبير aims to combine classical, medieval, and modern usage while documenting shifts in meaning over time. It complements, and in some respects surpasses, older classic dictionaries that focus on era-specific vocabularies.

By including archaic, rare, and evolving vocabulary, the Academy aims for breadth unmatched by older lexicons.

A Glacial Pace Gathers Speed

Following the release of the first volume in 1956, work progressed at a glacial pace. By the early 2000s, the Academy had completed the early letters through ر (rā’), an average pace of one letter every five years.

• In the 2010s, thanks to expanded editorial teams, the pace of publication increased to an average of one letter every two years.
• As of 2026, 19 volumes have been completed, with the latest published volume being the first part of the letter ع (‘ayn).
• The Academy has completed the scholarly preparation of the remaining material through ن (nūn), which is currently under review. At this more ambitious pace, the Academy expects completion of the alphabet within the next two to three years.

When finished, المعجم الكبير will likely become the most extensive dictionary of Arabic ever produced and a major reference for linguists, historians, translators, and scholars of the Arabic language.

To sustain a project of this scale, the Academy operates through five subcommittees of scholars who meet weekly, a structure that has dramatically increased productivity compared with earlier years, when a single committee met only twice a week. As it contemplates completion of this mammoth undertaking, the Academy now plans to revisit the earliest volumes of المعجم الكبير – published decades ago now – to ensure their continued relevance to modern usage.

Beyond the Lexicon: Dialects and Digital Dilemmas

The project is part of a broader suite of works published by the Academy: besides the Great Dictionary, there are specialized dictionaries, terminological dictionaries, and digital / modernization projects (such as an initiative to digitize many of the Academy’s publications).

The Al Waseet Dictionary, a comprehensive single-volume dictionary that has been a standard reference work of the Arabic language since 1960, has been available in digital form on the Academy’s website since 2002.

While the Academy conducts limited research on regional dialects, it does not currently have the capacity to produce a comprehensive dialect dictionary. Some members worry that codifying dialects too extensively could weaken the standing of Classical Arabic. At the same time, linguistic committees are closely studying media language and translation trends to help integrate contemporary terminology into Arabic systematically.

In addition to its dictionary work, the Academy publishes a scientific journal, hosts an annual conference, and collaborates with linguistic academies across the Arab world on joint lexicographic projects. It remains engaged in regional scholarly networks through regular participation in conferences. The Academy maintains an active public presence. For the past five years, it has participated in the Cairo International Book Fair, where it offers its publications at low cost. 

The Print vs. Digital Paradox

The fact that the Academy’s work is heavily subsidized by the state has likely been a hindrance to innovation. The publication of المعجم الكبير has often been delayed not by the pace of lexical work but by the need to secure budgets for printing.

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Paradoxically, the risk of losing scant revenues from print sales has made the Academy reluctant to release the full text online (via an app, for example). Although the Academy acknowledges the value to scholarship of digitizing the full work, internal discussions continue over whether to publish the entire dictionary online or limit digital access to selected portions to avoid undermining print sales.

By keeping المعجم الكبير in its relatively inaccessible print format, the Academy has ceded space to more accessible initiatives such as the Riyadh Dictionary, the Doha Dictionary, and the Birzeit dictionary, even if the purpose and focus of each of these dictionaries is different (see below).

Given the widespread practice of pirating books in the Arab world and the weak enforcement of intellectual property laws, it seems unlikely that the Academy could prevent the unauthorized digitization of the المعجم الكبير, for example, by one of the many dictionary aggregation platforms such as Al Maany and Arabic Lexicon.

Faced with that reality, it would seem wise for the Academy to make a virtue out of necessity by leading the digitization of its dictionary, perhaps through a modestly-priced application modelled on Lughatuna, the leading dictionary app for a variety of Arabic dialects.