Yiddish

See also: yiddish and yíddish

English

Etymology

    From Yiddish ייִדיש (yidish), from Middle High German jüdisch (in reference to the language, more fully jüdischdiutsch (literally “Jewish-German”)).[1] By surface analysis, Yid +‎ -ish.

    Pronunciation

    • enPR: yĭd'ĭsh, IPA(key): /ˈjɪd.ɪʃ/
    • Audio (US):(file)

    Adjective

    Yiddish (comparative more Yiddish, superlative most Yiddish)

    1. Of or pertaining to the Yiddish language.
      • 2007 January 26, Stefan Kanfer, “In Lower Manhattan, the Echo of the Yiddish Stage Endures”, in The New York Times‎[1], archived from the original on 31 March 2019:
        As a Yiddish proverb has it: Badarf men hunik ven tsuker iz zis? Who needs honey when sugar is sweet?
      • 2015 December 22, Justin Wm. Moyer, “Donald Trump’s ‘schlonged’: A linguistic investigation”, in The Washington Post‎[2], archived from the original on 24 December 2015:
        “Many goyim are confused by the large number of Yiddish terms beginning with ‘schl’ or ‘schm’ (schlemiel, schlemazzle, schmeggegge, schlub, schlock, schlep, schmutz, schnook), and use them incorrectly or interchangeably,” he wrote.
    2. (informal) Jewish; relating to Yiddishkeit.
      Synonym: Jewish
      Yiddish cooking; Yiddish music

    Translations

    Proper noun

    Yiddish

    2. A West Germanic, or more specifically High German, language that developed from Middle High German dialects, with an admixture of vocabulary from multiple source languages including Hebrew-Aramaic, Romance, Slavic, English, etc., and mostly written in Hebrew characters which is used mainly among Ashkenazic Jews from central and eastern Europe.
      Synonym: Jewish
      Holonym: High German
      Meronyms: Eastern Yiddish, East Yiddish, Western Yiddish, West Yiddish
      • 1983, Philip Baldi, An Introduction to the Indo-European Languages, page 128:
        Yiddish is a High German language […] two varieties of Yiddish developed […]

    Translations

    See also

    • Wiktionary’s coverage of Yiddish terms

    References

    1. ^ “Yiddish, n. and adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

    Further reading

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