rabbi

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin rabbi,^[2][3][4] from Ancient Greek ῥαββί (rhabbí), a form of address in the New Testament,^[3][2][5] from Biblical Hebrew רַבִּי (rabbī, “my master”), a title of the scholars of the Mishnah and of Jewish religious scholars in general.^[3][5] The Hebrew word is formed from רַב (raḇ, “master, great one”) and the possessive suffix of the first person singular.^[3][2][6][5] Klein and Etymonline derive the noun from a Semitic root meaning "to be great or numerous" and compare Aramaic, Akkadian and Arabic words for "great" and "master".^[5][2] In Middle English it was spelled rabi and raby, partly also from Old French rabi.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a form of address, "master", in the West Saxon Gospels (John 1:38) before 1050,^[3][7] at first only in translations or echoes of the New Testament.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

Ayto notes that the word was used only in biblical contexts until the 14th century, when it became an ordinary noun for a Jewish spiritual leader.^[6] Barnhart finds it as a form of address in the Cursor Mundi before 1325;^[7] prefixed to a personal name it appears in Trevisa's translation of Higden's Polychronicon (before 1387), and for a Jewish scholar with authority on law and ritual from about 1390.^[3][7] Today the word means especially one who is ordained to deal with such matters.^[3][9] From 1527 it was applied to Christian clergy and other people of comparable learning or authority, often with contempt.^[3] In American use it later came to mean a mentor or patron (1917), and in police and New York slang a person in authority who uses influence on someone's behalf (1932).^[3][10] The form rabbin, from French or Medieval Latin rabbinus, was used from the 16th century,^[8][7] and is the source of rabbinate and rabbinical.^[7] The verb rabbi meant to call someone rabbi from 1583 to 1629, and since 1966 to act as a rabbi.^[3]

Timeline

• before 1050 – as a form of address, in the West Saxon Gospels.^[3][7]
• before 1325 – rabi, master, as a form of address.^[7]
• before 1387 – prefixed to the name of a Jewish scholar.^[3][7]
• c. 1390 – a Jewish scholar or teacher of the law.^[3]
• 1527 – a Christian minister or other person of comparable authority.^[3]
• 1917 – US, a mentor or patron.^[3]
• 1932 – US slang, an influential protector.^[3][10]
• 1966 – verb, to act as a rabbi.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A Jewish scholar qualified to teach and rule on Jewish law, especially one ordained to do so: She was ordained a rabbi last spring.^[9][4][3]
2. The religious leader of a Jewish congregation; the minister of a synagogue.^[9][4]
3. the Rabbis: the early Jewish scholars whose teachings are recorded in the Talmud.^[9]
4. Master or teacher, used as a title or form of address.^[4][3]
5. (US slang) An influential patron or sponsor.^[10][3]

Word family

• rabbinate
• rabbinic
• rabbinical
• Rabbinism

Related words

• rebbe
• reb
• rebbetzin
• rabbin
• Rav
• rabat

Usage notes

A separate rabbi, also pronounced "rabby", is a vest or shirt front worn by a priest, recorded from 1909; it is an alteration of rabat, perhaps a joke on the Jewish title.^[3][4][11]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
11. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press