Cornell University in the United States and the University of British Columbia in Canada have added the Doha Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language to their digital libraries. Both universities place high on widely recognized global university rankings.
Cornell University, which ranks 16th globally according to QS and 18th according to Times Higher Education, has included the Doha Dictionary in its e-library under its Dictionaries, Thesauri, and Abbreviations page under the subheading of “Arabic Ontology”.
Meanwhile, the University of British Columbia, which ranks 40th and 45th globally according to QS and Times respectively, has incorporated the Doha Historical Dictionary into its own e-library as part of its Middle East Studies Resources.
In this context, Mohammed Al Ubaidi, Executive Director of the Doha Historical Dictionary, welcomed this development and looks forward to seeing more universities – both within the Arab world and beyond – following suit.
He stated: “For more than a decade, we have been committed to refining the dictionary entries in accordance with the highest possible academic standards, and we have made it freely accessible through an online platform to support researchers across the humanities and social sciences… these two prestigious universities have recognized the value of this project and moved swiftly to incorporate it”.
Al Ubaidi further elaborated: “Making the dictionary openly accessible reflects the project’s identity: it is a project for the broader scholarly and cultural community.
One of its foremost intentions is to provide researchers everywhere with this unique historical lexicographic resource, made available to all for the first time in the history of this ancient language.
From this perspective, we call on universities and academic institutions to make it accessible to their students and researchers, and we encourage scholars everywhere to conduct studies that engage with or utilize its content.”
The Doha Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language is one of the largest projects of the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies. It was officially launched on 25 May 2013 and its completion announced on 22 December 2025.
More than 500 researchers from across the Arab world contributed to its development. The dictionary remains under continuous development due to its ongoing interaction with a living language, as well as its openness to public feedback and suggestions.
