Syriac Dictionary

Syriac Dictionary is an offline dictionary for Syriac (West Syriac, written in the Serto script), English and Arabic. Look up a word in any of the three and see it in all three: the Syriac with its vowels, a transliteration, and the English and Arabic meanings.

WHAT'S INSIDE

• More than 3,600 words and 62 everyday phrases, drawn from published Syriac dictionaries (SEDRA, Payne Smith, Cardahi, Manna, Costaz and others) and credited in the app.

• Honest review status on every entry. Words are checked in batches by a fluent West Syriac reader; about 860 are reviewed so far, and each entry tells you whether it has been reviewed, cross-checked against a second dictionary, or not yet. The reviewed share grows with every update.

• Hear the Syriac. Nearly every word and phrase can be played in a synthetic Syriac voice, trained for this app on readings by Deacon Albert Tarzi and used with his consent. It is labelled as synthetic wherever it plays. English and Arabic are spoken by your device's own voices, and playback speed is adjustable.

• Search in three scripts. Type Syriac, English, Arabic, or Syriac in Latin letters (malko, shlomo). Vowel marks are optional: you find the word with or without them.

• Rich entries: numbered meanings, part of speech, the root and other words from it, verb forms, and the phrases that use the word.

• Everyday phrasebook, sorted by topic, each phrase with its words broken out.

• Voice search in English or Arabic. Syriac speech recognition doesn't exist on any platform yet, and the app says so rather than pretending.

• An Arabic interface, right to left, as well as English.

• Made for iPad too: the word list and the open word side by side.

• Fully offline. The whole dictionary is inside the app: no account, no internet connection, no ads and no data collection.

• Calm, manuscript-inspired design in the Serto Urhoy typeface, with text sizes, dark mode and a high-contrast option.

Syriac is the language of the Peshitta and of the Syriac churches' liturgy, still prayed and spoken today. This app is for learners, families and the faithful who want to read, hear and understand it.

The app is free. If it helps you, an optional tip supports new words, more review and a better voice.