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This is a list of English words of Hebrew origin. Transliterated pronunciations not found in Merriam-Webster or the American Heritage Dictionary follow Sephardic/Modern Israeli pronunciations as opposed to Ashkenazi pronunciations, with the major difference being that the letter taw (ת ) is transliterated as a 't' as opposed to an 's'.
Though primarily a West Germanic language of Indo-European origin, English incorporates words from countless languages, including Hebrew. Often, these words have religious connotations and come to English through the Bible, for example: hallelujah, amen , sabbath and kosher .
The Academy of the Hebrew Language of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem currently invents about 2,000 new Hebrew words each year for modern words by finding an original Hebrew word that captures the meaning, as an alternative to incorporating more English words into Hebrew vocabulary.
- Shalom (shah-LOME) שלום. Perhaps the best-known Hebrew word today is shalom, which means “peace” or “wellbeing.” It also can be used for both “hello” and “goodbye.”
- Todah (toe-DAH) תודה. Hebrew for gratitude or acknowledgement, this is the modern word for “thank you.” In Temple times, a Jew who felt grateful for G‑d’s salvation from danger would bring a korban todah, a “sacrifice of gratitude.”
- Torah (toe-RAH) תורה. Literally “guide” or “instruction,” the Torah refers to the Five Books of Moses which contain G‑d’s instructions. More broadly, Torah refers to the entire corpus of Jewish spiritual scholarship.
- Mitzvah (mitz-VAH) מצוה. Literally “commandment,” mitzvah refers to any of the 613 commandments in the Torah, especially giving charity. Since a Jew is obligated to follow the commandments after reaching the age of majority, a boy’s 13th birthday is his “bar mitzvah” and a girl’s 12th birthday is her “bat mitzvah.”
- חבל על הזמן. עברית. Transliteration. khaval ‘al ha-zman. adjectival phrase. “the time is a shame” / “a shame for the time”
- לפרגן. עברית. Transliteration. lefargen. verb. “to delight in/congratulate/celebrate another’s success, achievements, etc.” This one is approximately the opposite of Schadenfreude, the English loanword from German meaning to take delight in the suffering or setbacks of one’s enemy.
- דווקא. עברית. Transliteration. davka. adverb. “specifically” / “intentionally” / “of all things” Depending on the context, this adverb can be used to emphasize something in contrast to something else, to denote something that is not necessarily expected, or even to specify something done out of spite.
- לחיות בסרט / לאכול סרטים. עברית. Transliteration. likhyot be-seret / le’ekhol sratim. phrasal verb. “to live in the movies” / “to eat movies”
Our purpose here is show a common relationship between Hebrew and English words and their meanings. This area of study is what has become called "Edenics." All languages are based on a root system where a common set of letters can be found in different words of similar meaning.
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Oct 23, 2024 · Hebrew language, Semitic language of the Northern Central (also called Northwestern) group; it is closely related to Phoenician and Moabite, with which it is often placed by scholars in a Canaanite subgroup.
