![]() Some linguists believe the word directly stems from the Hebrew. Sapphire bears a remarkable relationship to the Hebrew word sapir, meaning a brilliant blue stone. The Greeks adapted that letter name from the Hebrew letter dalet, which is also the fourth letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Nature WordsĬamel derives directly from the Hebrew word for the animal: gamal.Ĭinnamonentered English from Greek, which borrowed the word from the Hebrew kinnamon.ĭeltoid, the triangle-shaped shoulder muscle, comes from the Greek letter delta, which is shaped like a triangle and is the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet. In fact, the final day of Sukkot is even known as Hoshana Rabba, or the great day of asking for salvation. Each day of this seven-day holiday, it’s customary to recite a beautiful prayer that includes the plea Hoshana, please save us. The Jewish holiday of Sukkot is closely associated with this phrase. Hoshana is often used as an expression of praise it comes from the Hebrew phrase Hosha (“save”) Na (“please”). Literally meaning praise the Divine, it’s a fixture in Jewish - and Christian - prayer. Hallelujahis a combination of two Hebrew words: Hallel (“praise”) and El (a way of referring to God). This eventually was used to mean any works that were “measured” and fit into a set of holy works. The Hebrew word amen spread to Christian and Muslim communities where it’s often incorporated into prayers.Ĭanon, a set of holy works such as the books of the Bible, comes from the old Hebrew word for a cane or a measuring rod (which might have been made out of a cane), canon. Saying amen indicates that you have faith in what was just said and affirm the sentiment. In some cultures, the word began to be used to refer to a powerful evil figure satanic reflects that, meaning diabolically evil and destructive.Ībbotis a Christian official, but the word comes from abba, which means father in Hebrew and Aramaic, the language of the Talmud.Īmencomes from the Hebrew word for trust and steadfastness, amun. Satanic comes from the Hebrew word satan, meaning an opponent or someone who plots against another. She hoped that by having a child, her husband might begin to love and appreciate her see Genesis 29:32.) ![]() When she gave birth to a boy, she named him Reu - “see” in Hebrew - Ben - “a son” in Hebrew. Jacob wound up marrying both sisters, and Leah felt humiliated that she’d been her husband’s second choice. (Jacob was meant to marry Rachel, Leah’s sister, but his father-in-law tricked him, and wed Jacob to Leah instead. In the Torah, Reuben was the oldest son of the patriarch Jacob and the matriarch Leah. It’s a corruption of the Biblical name Reuben (Reuven in Hebrew). Rube, meaning an unsophisticated, gullible person, became a popular slur starting in the 1800s in the United States. (It’s related to the German word gleiten, “to glide”.) Astronaut John Glenn popularized the term in the 1960s after hearing Yiddish-speaking NASA engineers using it to describe problems. Glitch likely is derived from the Yiddish word glitshn, meaning “to slip”. Shwa- the linguistic term for an unstressed syllable - is often thought to be a German word, but it entered German directly from the Hebrew, referring to the Hebrew vowel called shva which denotes a pause in the pronunciation of a word. Sack comes from the Hebrew word for bag it likely entered English through ancient Greek, which borrowed this Hebrew word from the Bible. It evolved from the Hebrew word mavin, meaning “to understand,” which a wise expert presumably is able to do. Maven, an expert, comes from the identical Yiddish word: maven, a wise figure. Some linguists also trace the words napkin and apron to this ancient Hebrew word. Map derives from the Hebrew word mappa, meaning a fluttering banner (on which drawings including maps might have been drawn). ![]() Scholars disagree, but many linguists posit that this magical word is a corruption of the Hebrew phrase ebrah k’dabri: “I will create as I speak,” uttered by someone claiming magical powers to bring something into existence.Īlphabet comes from the first two letters of the Greek language, alpha and beta many linguists believe these letters evolved from the first two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, aleph and bet. In time, abaci (the plural of abacus) began to become more sophisticated, with beads threaded onto wires.Ībracadabra might have Hebrew roots. ![]() The ancient Greeks changed avak to abacus (in Hebrew, a v sound and a b sound can be expressed with a similar letter). In ancient times, people would make calculations on a board spread with dust or sand in which they would trace numbers. Everyday Words with Secret Jewish RootsĪbacus has the Hebrew word for dust, avak. Here’s a list of 20 additional startling examples. My previous article about English words and their surprising Jewish origins left readers clamoring for more.
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