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What is the etymology of the word "Vasikin", used for the Minyan that starts Shemona Esrei at sunrise? Also, is "Vasikin" Hebrew or Aramaic?

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  • If you add into the question what you know about the word (e.g., where you saw it or what it means), that could help people answer the question.
    – msh210
    Jan 12, 2012 at 0:20
  • I know nothing other than it is used for the Minyan that starts Shemona Esrei at sunrise. Jan 12, 2012 at 2:28
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    The minyan is praying כותיקין, which I always (perhaps wrongly) took to mean "praying like the ותיקין", where "ותיקין" describes people (as in josh waxman's answer).
    – msh210
    Jan 12, 2012 at 2:37
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    The gemara in Berachot 9b and 25b use the term vatikin to refer to those who finish kriat shema just before sunrise. Rashi there defines "vatikin" as those who are humble and love mitzvot.
    – Double AA
    Jan 12, 2012 at 2:43

1 Answer 1

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Jastrow (page 375) on the word ותיק:

Jastrow on the word ותיק:

And then from Vatikin as a description of the men who did this -> the practice.

I think Mishnaic Hebrew, with a comparison to Arabic and Biblical Hebrew.

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  • I think Hebrew, considering that all his quotations are Hebrew. (I didn't, however, check the citations he provides from which he does not quote.) +1.
    – msh210
    Jan 12, 2012 at 1:25
  • @msh210: it's pretty rare for native Hebrew words to begin with vav.
    – Alex
    Jan 12, 2012 at 4:05
  • actually, I think msh210 is right. so, Mishnaic Hebrew. I'll correct. Jan 12, 2012 at 12:23
  • @Alex, I didn't say it's native (in the sense of "not borrowed"), merely that it's Hebrew.
    – msh210
    Jan 12, 2012 at 16:47

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