ayin

American  

[ah-yin, ah-yeen] / ˈɑ yɪn, ˈɑ yin /

noun

1. the 16th letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

2. the voiced pharyngeal constrictive consonant represented by this letter and cognate with Arabic 'ain.

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ayin British  

/ ˈajiːn, ˈɑːjɪn /

noun

1. the 16th letter in the Hebrew alphabet (ע), originally a pharyngeal fricative, that is now silent and transliterated by a raised inverted comma (')

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Etymology

Origin of ayin

First recorded in 1875–80, ayin is from the Hebrew word ʿayin literally, eye

Example Sentences

Much religious arcana are offered: "How the Kabbalistic doctrine of ayin, the unknowable element in which the Infinite exists, had its Hindu cognate in the concept Nishkala Shiva, the remote absolute."

From Time Magazine Archive

But at the same time it had a different name: ayin, or “nothing.”

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

Omri was likewise pronounced in accordance with the older system, before the ghain became ayin.

From The Old Testament In the Light of The Historical Records and Legends of Assyria and Babylonia by Pinches, Theophilus Goldridge