dreidel

Etymology

It is borrowed from Yiddish דריידל (dreydl),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} which the OED takes as probably a blend of טרענדל (trendl), an older name for the same toy, and דרייען (dreyen, “to turn”).^[2][6] The verb is from Middle High German dræjen (“to turn”),^[2][3][7] from Old High German drāen,^[3][7][6] from Proto-Germanic *þrēaną (“to turn, twist”),^[6][8] also the source of þrāwan and so of throw;^[8][7][2] Orel compares Latin terō (“to rub”) and Ancient Greek τείρω (teírō).^[8] Wiktionary takes it further back to Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to turn, rub, pierce”).^[6] The noun trendl is from trendel (“spinning top”),^[2][6] the source of English trendle.^[2] Dictionary.com analyses the Yiddish word as the verb with a noun suffix,^[9] and the Oxford Dictionary of English compares German drehen.^[5][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

A small four-sided spinning top marked with Hebrew letters, used in a game at Hanukkah: 1916, in Jewish Child.^[2][7] The OED cites an earlier English use of the Yiddish word trendel for the same top, in 1902.^[2] Dictionary.com dates dreidel to 1925–30 and the Oxford Dictionary of English to the 1930s.^[9][5]

Semantic evolution

From 1920 the word was also used for the gambling game played with the top,^[2][7] which Merriam-Webster likens to put-and-take.^[7] The Shorter Oxford labels it chiefly North American.^[4]

Timeline

• 1902 – trendel, the Hanukkah top, in English.^[2]
• 1916 – dreidel, the four-sided top.^[2][7]
• 1920 – the game played with it.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A four-sided spinning top with a Hebrew letter on each side, spun in a children's game during Hanukkah.^[10][7][2]
2. The game of chance played with this top.^[7][2]

Related words

• throw
• trendle

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins