Abhidhan (dictionary)  Etymologically, abhidhan means word-meaning, but, like western dictionaries, the abhidhan has expanded its functions and provides help with spellings, synonyms, usage, pronunciation, and grammar. The etymology of words is also given in many dictionaries. Sometimes, the dictionary plays the role of an abridged encyclopedia. Many dictionaries provide an appendix covering necessary information of our day-to-day life, which sometimes acts as a guide-book.

The first Bangla dictionary was a bilingual dictionary, Vocabulario em Idioma Bengala E Portuguez, compiled by a Portuguese monk, Manoel da Assumcam, and published in 1743. It was printed in Roman letters. The first dictionary to be printed in bangla script was Engaraji O Bangali Vocabulary published by A Upjohn from Calcutta in 1793. In 1799, Henry Pitts Forster published A Vocabulary in Two Parts, English and Bengalee, containing 20,000 Bangla words.

Several bilingual dictionaries were published in the nineteenth century. These were:

The first monolingual Bangla dictionary was published in 1817. The following is a list of some monolingual dictionaries:

Since its inception, bangla academy has been playing an active role in the compilation of dictionaries, having so far published about sixty. Among the Bangla Academy dictionaries which deserve special mention are the following: Anchalik Bhasar Abhidhan (A dictionary of dialects, 1965), Vyavaharik Bangla Abhidhan (A functional Bangla dictionary, 1974), Chhotader Abhidhan (A juvenile dictionary, 1983), Charitabhidhan (A biographical dictionary, 1985), Uchcharan Abhidhan (A dictionary of Bangla pronunciation, 1989), Sangksipta Bangla Abhidhan (An abridged Bangla dictionary, 1992), Samakalin Bangla Bhasar Abhidhan (A dictionary of contemporary Bangla language, 1993), English-Bengali Dictionary (1993), Bengali-English Dictionary (1994), Banan Abhidhan (A dictionary of spelling, 1994), Sahaj Bangla Abhidhan (An easy Bangla dictionary, 1995) Lekhak Abhidhan (A dictionary of writers, 1998). [Swarochish Sarker]