Tagged Questions
2
votes
3answers
137 views
Root of word צְלוֹתְהוֹן?
Looking at the Kaddish Shalem focusing on the words תִּתְקַבֵּל צְלוֹתְהוֹן, what is the etymology of the word tzelot-hon? Is this construct even hebrew? I found the root צְלָא meaning "pray" with ...
5
votes
1answer
98 views
What is the Shekhina?
To what are people referring when they talk about the Shekhina? Is it a form of God? A part of God? An attribute of God? Perhaps it is something else entirely?
Also, what is the etymology of the ...
0
votes
0answers
100 views
Why is Hebrew's word for “widget” so different than most other languages'? [closed]
I've been studying Hebrew for about a whole month now. I've discovered that the word "widget" in English, while translating to "widget" in most other languages, translates to "יישומון" in Hebrew. I ...
8
votes
3answers
131 views
What is the etymology of סמאל?
I've heard that סמאל (Samael, a "bad" angel) is related to the word שמאל (left). Is there any basis for this, and are there any other explanations for his name?
The Hebrew Wikipedia claims that it is ...
3
votes
2answers
88 views
Clothing and shame, etymologically speaking
I have been unable to find an etymological connection between the root for shame בשש (especially as it turns into the forms of בושה בושת) and the word for "clothe" לבש. Shame was introduced in ...
6
votes
1answer
106 views
Root of the name Aharon
What is the etymology of the name Aharon? The only serious site I've found that proposes an etymology is this, but I'm hoping for a more classical source, i.e. Chazal or Rishonim.
5
votes
2answers
116 views
What does שעטנז (sha'atnez) mean?
.שעטנז.
I'm asking about the literal meaning behind the word, its etymology, etc.
10
votes
3answers
513 views
Is Hebrew the mother of all languages spoken today in the world?
I often wonder what language Adam, Seth, Noah and Abraham (may peace and blessings be upon them) used to speak. What was their native tongue? Was it classical Hebrew? If yes, then would it be right to ...
0
votes
1answer
70 views
Extra yud in Yerushalaim
Why and by whom was there a yud added to make "ירושלים" instead of the original "ירושלם"?
9
votes
2answers
138 views
Why is the Machzor called a Machzor?
The Siddur we use for Yom Tov is known as a Machzor. What does it mean and where did this originate?
11
votes
2answers
335 views
חס ושלום! (whatever that means)
What on earth does חס ושלום mean literally, or what is its etymology? Why do people use that phrase in particular to "ward off" bad things? (That last part of the question is not asking whether saying ...
5
votes
1answer
75 views
How and when did the word “Kollel” come to mean “an institution for paying scholars to study Torah”?
How and when did the word "Kollel" come to mean "an institution for paying scholars to study Torah"?
If I'm not mistaken, the Hebrew word "kollel" means "includes."
But today we've all heard of the ...
8
votes
5answers
1k views
Etymology/connection between Ari, Aryeh, Yehudah, Leib, and Leibel
What is the relationship between the following names that often go together is some combination?
Ari/Aryeh
Yehudah
Leib/Leibel
I've encountered many men, young and old, with the following first ...
2
votes
1answer
123 views
Are “tzipor” and “tziporen” related?
Are the words ציפור (bird) and ציפורן (finger nail OR a spice [found in k'tores]) etymologically related? I heard that both were connected to the root צ.פ.ר (arise) or to anatomical protuberance but I ...
5
votes
2answers
223 views
3
votes
3answers
127 views
Is there a single syntactic class “פעיל” in Biblical Hebrew?
Is there a unique class of Biblical Hebrew words of the form "פעיל"?Is the putative class of Biblical Hebrew words strictly a class of nouns or adjectives?If not, is it strictly divisible into two ...
5
votes
1answer
204 views
Are the Aramaic root ק.ב.ל and the Hebrew root ק.ב.ל related?
When the word מקבילות comes up in parashas T'ruma, Rash"i defines it based on the Aramaic root ק.ב.ל, commonly found in the preposition לקבל (against or opposite) to mean physically across ...
3
votes
2answers
271 views
What's the etymology of the Hassidic term “b'sho'oh” for a chaperoned quasi-date?
I've heard in the Hassidic world, if two families decide that one's young fellow should meet the other's young lady, the couple has a brief, chaperoned, meeting, known as a b'shoh (spelling?), to ...
2
votes
3answers
353 views
Where can I find Hebrew etymologies?
In what reliable source can I look up the etymology of English (or other) words stretching all the way back to Semitic languages, especially Hebrew?
I often have suspicions that certain words might ...
