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

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

From Literature

As I learned in my high school Talmud class, the medieval Rabbis decided to forbid these not-technically-forbidden grains because of a principle called marit ayin, which literally means “what it looks like.”

From Scientific American