Mitnagged

[ English, Ashkenazic Hebrew mis-nah-gid; Sephardic Hebrew meet-nah-ged ]

noun

, Judaism.

, plural Mit·nag·ge·dim [mis-, nahg, -dim, meet-nahg-, deem].

1. a member of an Orthodox Jewish movement in central or eastern Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries that advocated an intellectual, legalistic approach to Judaism and opposed the emotional, mystical approach of the Hasidim. Compare Hasid ( def 1 ).

Word History and Origins

Origin of Mitnagged¹

1900–05; < Medieval Hebrew mithnaggēdh, Yiddish misnaged < Hebrew mithnaggēdh opposing, opponent