kibbutz
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of kibbutz
1930–35; < Modern Hebrew kibuṣ; compare Hebrew qibbūṣ gathering
Explanation
A kibbutz is a cooperative Israeli farming community. Kibbutzim provide about forty percent of Israel's agricultural output. The first kibbutz was formed in 1909, and back then farming was even more important than it is in today's kibbutzim (yes, this is the plural form of kibbutz). The original philosophy of kibbutzim was somewhat utopian, a belief in the creation of a perfect, equal society, and based in socialist ideals of shared ownership and a communal lifestyle. The word comes from the Modern Hebrew qibbus, "a gathering."
Vocabulary lists containing kibbutz
The Middle East and Central Asia - Introductory
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The Middle East and Central Asia - Middle School
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The Middle East and Central Asia - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Benn said he is a "deeply committed anti-fascist" and lived on a kibbutz, a community in Israel, for many months in the 1970s.
From BBC • Apr. 6, 2026
There, she worked on a farm, lived on a kibbutz and, with thousands of other idealistic European Jews who had moved to Eretz Israel, pursued the dream of creating a Jewish state.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 17, 2025
He took a year out to apply to study law, during which he worked as a dustman, on a kibbutz and as a ballpoint pen salesman in South Africa.
From BBC • Oct. 17, 2025
Israeli-Argentinian brothers David and Ariel Cunio were kidnapped along with several relatives while hiding in the safe room of David's home in Nir Oz kibbutz.
From Barron's • Oct. 13, 2025
"No! I have an aunt I never knew about, on a kibbutz."
From "What the Night Sings" by Vesper Stamper
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
