shamash

Etymology

The OED takes it as borrowed from Yiddish שמשׂ (shames, “attendant”),^[2][3][1] from Biblical Hebrew שַׁמָּשׁ (šammāš, “attendant, servant, caretaker”), which in post-biblical Hebrew was also the sexton of a synagogue and, later, the extra candle for lighting the Hanukkah lights; the Hebrew noun comes from a verb meaning "to serve".^[2][3] The American Heritage Dictionary gives the Hebrew word as the direct source, and derives it from an Aramaic word for a servant or minister, probably from Egyptian šmsw (“servant”), from šms (“to follow, serve”).^[4] According to the OED, forms ending in s reflect the Yiddish word, and forms ending in sh a remodelling after the Hebrew; its first record, of 1650, translates Italian sciamas, itself from Yiddish.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A warden of a synagogue: 1650, in Chilmead's translation of Modena's history of the rites of the Jews.^[2] The Shorter Oxford dates the word to the mid-17th century and compares the duties to those of a sexton or caretaker.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word also named a court official of a Beth Din.^[2] The second sense, a ninth candle used to light the other candles on each of the eight nights of Hanukkah, is recorded from 1895, in the American Hebrew,^[2] although the Shorter Oxford dates it to the mid-20th century.^[3] The American Heritage Dictionary lists the candle sense first, and describes the synagogue official as one who assists in running the services, especially the reading of the Torah.^[4] The Jewish surname Shamash is an occupational name from the same word.^[5]

Timeline

• 1650 – a warden of a synagogue.^[2]
• 1895 – the extra candle used to light the Hanukkah candles.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The extra candle used to light the other eight candles of a Hanukkah menorah: The children watched their father light the shamash first.^[4][2][3]
2. An official who looks after a synagogue and assists in its services, especially the reading of the Torah; a sexton.^[4][2][3]
3. A court official of a Beth Din.^[2]

Related words

• shammes

Usage notes

In both senses the word is also spelled shammes.^[4][1] The plural shamashim follows the Hebrew plural; the Yiddish plural is shamosim.^[2] The capitalised Shamash, the sun god of Assyria and Babylonia, has a separate source, Akkadian šamaš (“sun”).^[4][6][7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ Hanks, Patrick; Coates, Richard; McClure, Peter, eds. (2016), The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.