Nanoscience and nanotechnology have developed  greatly in recent years,  and today they  are relevant to nearly every field. This nanotechnology dictionary answers this growing need for understanding this field, and helps make it accessible both  to professionals and to the general public.

This Hebrew-English dictionary contains more than 2900 terms, which reflects the development of the field  in its varied contexts, including, but not limited to : Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Electronics, and Materials Science. The dictionary  deals with the changes in technical  English language , which has become the language for international communication, and the need to integrate these changes into the Hebrew language, the language of the Bible,  yet a dynamic language that is constantly changing.

This dictionary is  intended for students, technicians, engineers, and anyone interested in new technologies . It should be useful as an aid for translators, as well as for entrepreneurs involved in nanotechnological initiatives.

The terms in the dictionary are dotted,  and written “ktiv haser “, in accordance with the guidelines of the Academy of the Hebrew language . I dedicated much effort  in translating the terms into Hebrew, based on the terms as defined by the Academy of the Hebrew language, but there are cases where the terms were  based  on English transliterations, for example “Corrosion” was translated as “corrozia “ which does not  elucidate the term.

I am  greatly indebted to Ms. Ronit Gadish, the Scientific Secretary of the Academy of the Hebrew Language, for her help in dotting the terms.

I would like to especially thank Dr. Dor  Amram for his helpful comments.

I  would like to express my heartfelt  thanks to  Ms. Ilana Rosenberg for her help in preparing this dictionary

The compiler – Baruch Rubinov

Nanotechnology deals with the science and its engineering applications of tiny systems .  The name is derived from the Greek word “Nanos” which  means “dwarf “ and  “nanos”, is the origin for the Hebrew word for a  dwarf  – “nanas”. In more precise scientific terms, a nanometer is the length that is equal to one billionth of a meter, which is a length that characterizes many systems that deal with nanotechnology.

Nanotechnology entered our lives in the late 1990’s , with considerable scientific development  about the characteristics of tiny systems,  and the development of various technologies for fabrication and characterization of these systems. In the last two decades,  this technology has continued to develop at an increasing rate, and its applications have expanded to all facets of our lives, from electronic and optical nanodevices, to sophisticated drug delivery systems.

As expected, the professional language is based on the English terms, since usually,  Hebrew still lacks these terms. I would like to commend Mr. Baruch Rubinov for undertaking this enormous task – the compilation  of this  technical dictionary,  and the translation of a  myriad of  technical terms  in Nanotechnology and Materials Science from English into Hebrew. This dictionary should greatly aid students, engineers, technicians, and the general public in reading  relevant scientific texts, and in their efforts in translating texts into Hebrew.

Professor Uri Sivan

Faculty of Physics and the Russell Institute for Nanotechnology

Technion, Haifa