חג חנוכה שמח
Etymologically presents
Hanukkah Etymologies
Eight nights of light: the words of the festival, the Yiddish that found a home in English, and eight words handed down from the Hebrew Bible, one for each candle.
The festival of lights
The words of the eight nights.
- late 19th century Hanukkah from Hebrew ḥănukkāh “dedication” The festival celebrates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem in 164 BC, after the Maccabean revolt. Transliterating the Hebrew has produced a dozen English spellings, Chanukah among them. Read the full etymology →
- 19th century menorah from Hebrew mənōrāh “lampstand” From a root meaning “fire, light”. The seven-branched lamp of the Temple gave its name to the nine-branched Hanukkah lamp, also called a hanukkiah. Read the full etymology →
- Yiddish and Hebrew shamash from šammāš “servant” The “servant” or helper candle, set apart from the others and used to light them. The word also names the caretaker of a synagogue. Read the full etymology →
- early 20th century dreidel from Yiddish dreydl From dreyen, “to turn”, a cousin of German drehen. Its four Hebrew letters stand for “a great miracle happened there”. Read the full etymology →
- 20th century latke from Yiddish, from Ukrainian oladka A potato pancake fried in oil, for the oil that burned for eight days. The Slavic word may go back to Greek eladion, “a little oil”. Read the full etymology →
- 1520s gelt from German and Dutch geld “money” First soldiers’ pay; then, through Yiddish, the coins (now often chocolate ones) given to children at Hanukkah. Read the full etymology →
- Middle English Maccabee from Hebrew, perhaps “hammer” The surname of Judah, leader of the revolt, probably from an Aramaic word for a hammer, for his blows against the enemy. Read the full etymology →
- 1851 kosher from Hebrew kāšēr “fit, proper” Food fit to eat under Jewish law. By the 1890s English slang had widened it to anything legitimate or above board. Read the full etymology →
Yiddish, the English way
Words that English picked up from the kitchens and card tables of Jewish immigrants.
- 1892 chutzpah from Hebrew ḥuṣpāh “insolence” Shameless audacity, usually said with a hint of admiration. Read the full etymology →
- 1897 schmooze from Yiddish shmuesn “to chat” From Hebrew šəmūʿōth, “rumours, news”. To schmooze was to gossip before it was to network. Read the full etymology →
- 1920s schlep from Yiddish shlepn “to drag” From a German word related to slip. A tedious journey, or the heavy bag you drag along on it. Read the full etymology →
- 1927 kibitz from Yiddish, from German Kiebitz A Kiebitz is a lapwing, a noisy bird; in German card games it was the onlooker who chattered and offered unwanted advice. Read the full etymology →
- early 20th century bagel from Yiddish beygl From a German word for a ring or bracelet, related to bow, “bend”. Read the full etymology →
- 1962 glitch from perhaps Yiddish glitsh “a slip” American astronauts’ slang for a sudden fault in the electrics. The Yiddish source is likely, though not proven. Read the full etymology →
- mid-20th century klutz from Yiddish klots “block” Literally a wooden beam or block, and so a clumsy blockhead. Read the full etymology →
- 1950s maven from Hebrew mēḇīn “one who understands” An expert or connoisseur: someone who really understands. Read the full etymology →
- 1950s mensch from Yiddish mentsh “person” From German Mensch, “human being”. In Yiddish and English, a person of integrity: someone you can count on. Read the full etymology →
Eight candles
Words that came into English from the Hebrew Bible. Light the candles one by one, as on the eight nights.
- Night 1 amen Hebrew āmēn, “truly, certainly”, from a root meaning “to be firm”, said to confirm a prayer.
- Night 2 jubilee Hebrew yōḇēl, the ram’s horn blown to proclaim the year of release every fifty years. Latin jubilare, “to shout for joy”, shaped the spelling.
- Night 3 sabbath Hebrew šabbāṯ, from a verb meaning “he rested”: the day of rest at the end of creation.
- Night 4 cherub Hebrew kərūḇ, a winged guardian of the divine throne. Renaissance painters turned it into a chubby winged child.
- Night 5 behemoth Hebrew bəhēmōṯ, an intensive plural of “beast”: the beast of beasts described in the Book of Job.
- Night 6 leviathan Hebrew liwyāṯān, a sea monster of the Bible. Thomas Hobbes made it the name of the all-powerful state in 1651.
- Night 7 shibboleth Hebrew for “ear of grain”. In the Book of Judges, the Gileadites used it to unmask Ephraimites, who could not say sh: a password became a test of belonging.
- Night 8 scapegoat Coined by William Tyndale in 1530 for the goat sent into the wilderness carrying the people’s sins, reading the Hebrew ʿăzāzēl as “the goat that departs”.