Kaddish

[ Ashkenazic Hebrew kah-dish; Sephardic Hebrew kah-deesh ]

noun,plural Kad·di·shim [Ashkenazic Hebrew kah-dish-im; Sephardic Hebrew kah-dee-sheem]. /Ashkenazic Hebrew kɑˈdɪʃ ɪm; Sephardic Hebrew kɑ diˈʃim/. Judaism.
  1. (italics) a liturgical prayer, consisting of three or six verses, recited at specified points during each of the three daily services and on certain other occasions.

  2. (italics)Also called Mourner's Kaddish. the five-verse form of this prayer that is recited at specified points during each of the three daily services by one observing the mourning period of 11 months, beginning on the day of burial, for a deceased parent, sibling, child, or spouse, and by one observing the anniversary of such a death.

  1. Kaddishim, persons who recite this prayer.

Origin of Kaddish

1
First recorded in 1605–15, Kaddish is from the Aramaic word qaddīsh holy (one)

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British Dictionary definitions for Kaddish

Kaddish

/ (ˈkædɪʃ) /


nounplural Kaddishim (kæˈdɪʃɪm) Judaism
  1. an ancient Jewish liturgical prayer largely written in Aramaic and used in various forms to separate sections of the liturgy. Mourners have the right to recite some of these in public prayer during the year after, and on the anniversary of, a death

  2. say Kaddish to be a mourner

Origin of Kaddish

1
C17: from Aramaic qaddīsh holy

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012