First recorded in 1890–95; from Ashkenazi pronunciation of Hebrew shibhʿāh “seven”
From Sanskrit: literally, “the auspicious”
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In Jewish religion, to begin the ritual mourning period, called shiva, a body needs to be buried first.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2025
And in some ways, we are still in shiva now, but not so intensively.
From Slate ● Aug. 7, 2025
When you returned from burying Lisa in Wisconsin, you had a week-long shiva, the Jewish ritual of friends, family and neighbors visiting after the death of a loved one.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2024
All are brought together, at the deceased patriarch’s request, to sit shiva for a backbreaking seven days.
From New York Times ● Feb. 29, 2024
Saying kaddish and sitting shiva, that absolves them of any responsibility for you.
From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride
In an 1803 etching and aquatint with watercolor by Thomas Daniell, we see Gangaram absorbed in sketching wall reliefs of Shiva and Parvati from a rock-cut cave at Ellora.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026
"This has been a long-standing issue and we have been investigating. Six have been arrested and our investigations will continue," Shiva Kumar Shrestha, the bureau's spokesman, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jan. 26, 2026
"Not a lot of trans people in India, or even the world, have the support of their families," says filmmaker, Shiva Krish.
From BBC ● Mar. 31, 2025
Rix says: "Shakti and Shiva might be the first two additions to the 'poor old heart' of our Milky Way, initiating its growth towards a large galaxy."
From Science Daily ● Mar. 21, 2024
Shiva was my buddy, but he sounded funny: He spoke Kirundi, a language of Burundi, and I would often ask him to repeat things.
From "How Dare the Sun Rise" by Sandra Uwiringiyimana
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.
