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Ismail ibn Hammad al-Jawhari

940 – 1002

Arabic lexicographer

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About Ismail ibn Hammad al-Jawhari

Lived 940 – 1002 (aged 61–62). Ismail ibn Hammad al-Jawhari was an Arab lexicographer and linguist.

Abu Nasr Isma'il ibn Hammad al-Jawhari also known as Imam al-Jauhari (died 1002 or 1008) was a medieval lexicographer and the author of a notable Arabic dictionary al-Ṣiḥāḥ fī al-Lughah .

Life He was born in the city of Farab (Otrar) in Transoxiana (in today's southern Kazakhstan). He began his studies of the Arabic language in Farab, He was the second person to have attempted after Abbas Ibn Firnas.

Works Taj al-Lugha wa Sihah al-Arabiya "The Crown of Language and the Correct Arabic" - His magnum opus dictionary of Arabic; often abbreviated as al-Sihah fi al-Lugha, "The Correct Language", and al-Sihah . It contains about 40,000 dictionary entries. Written in Nishapur, it was incomplete at his death and completed by a student. Al-Jawhari uses an alphabetical ordering system with the last letter of a word's root being the first ordering criterion. Al-Sihah is a principal Arabic dictionary of the medieval era and later compilers of Arabic dictionaries incorporated its material. Over the centuries several abridgements and elaborations in Arabic were produced and a large portion was copied into the huge 13th century dictionary compilation Lisan al-Arab; published online at http://www.baheth.info . A fully searchable online edition available at Baheth.info . Edition begun by E. Scheidius with a Latin translation, but one part only appeared at Harderwijk (1776).

In 1729 Ibrahim Muteferrika's Arabic-Turkish dictionary, based on Jawhari's, became the first book to be printed by the printing press of Ottoman era.

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Important facts

Born
940, Otrar
Birth century
Died
1002, Nishapur
Nationality
Employers
Nishapur
Also known as
Jauhari, Javhariy, Abu Nasr Isma'il ibn Hammad al-Jawhari, Ismāʿīl Ibn-Ḥammād al-Ǧauharī

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Ismail ibn Hammad al-Jawhari's

Frequently asked questions

Who was Ismail ibn Hammad al-Jawhari?

Arabic lexicographer

When was Ismail ibn Hammad al-Jawhari born?

Ismail ibn Hammad al-Jawhari was born in 940 in Otrar.

When did Ismail ibn Hammad al-Jawhari die?

Ismail ibn Hammad al-Jawhari died in 1002 in Nishapur.

What was Ismail ibn Hammad al-Jawhari's occupation?

Ismail ibn Hammad al-Jawhari was a lexicographer and linguist.

What nationality was Ismail ibn Hammad al-Jawhari?

Ismail ibn Hammad al-Jawhari was Arab.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Ismail ibn Hammad al-Jawhari

· Wikidata: Q403498

· DBpedia: Abu Nasr al-Jawhari

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Ismail ibn Hammad al-Jawhari. https://biography.guide/ismail-ibn-hammad-al-jawhari/

MLA: "Ismail ibn Hammad al-Jawhari." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/ismail-ibn-hammad-al-jawhari/.

Chicago: "Ismail ibn Hammad al-Jawhari." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/ismail-ibn-hammad-al-jawhari/.

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