shadchan

[ Yiddish, Ashkenazic Hebrew, English shaht-khuhn; Sephardic Hebrew shaht-khahn ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

, Yiddish and Hebrew.

, plural shad·cha·nim [shaht-, khaw, -nim, shaht-, kh, ah-, neem], English shad·chans.

shadchan

/ ˈʃatxən; ʃɑdˈxɑn /

from Hebrew shadhkhān, from shiddēkh to arrange a marriage

Many a marriageable maiden who came to view the trousseau went home to prink and blush and watch for the shadchan.

She even surreptitiously called in the Shadchan, or rather surrendered to his solicitations.

"Perhaps they won't give a dowry," he thought with a consolatory sense of outwitting the Shadchan.

"He has all the qualities that you desire," began the Shadchan, in a tone that repudiated the implications of the monosyllable.

She still lives with her brother and his wife; he married Sugarman the Shadchan's daughter, you know.'

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