Yiddish

American  

[yid-ish] / ˈyɪd ɪʃ /

noun

1. a Germanic language of Ashkenazi Jews, based on Middle High German dialects with an admixture of vocabulary from Hebrew, Aramaic, the Slavic languages, and Old French and Old Italian, written in Hebrew letters, and spoken mainly in eastern and central Europe and by Jewish emigrants from these regions and their descendants.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Yiddish.

Yiddish British  

/ ˈjɪdɪʃ /

noun

1. a language spoken as a vernacular by Jews in Europe and elsewhere by Jewish emigrants, usually written in the Hebrew alphabet. Historically, it is a dialect of High German with an admixture of words of Hebrew, Romance, and Slavonic origin, developed in central and E Europe during the Middle Ages

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adjective

1. in or relating to this language

Etymology

Origin of Yiddish

First recorded in 1885–90; from Yiddish yidish; yid, -ish ¹

Example Sentences

Steven Skybell, magnificent in the role of the besieged patriarch, led a superb cast that brought a new understanding to an old chestnut through the force of Yiddish language and culture.

From Los Angeles Times

Caesar did a Japanese samurai warrior into whose ersatz-Japanese monologue would slip in the occasional Yiddish word.

From The Wall Street Journal

A push to revitalise Yiddish and its cultural traditions has gained momentum in Germany, the very place where the Nazi regime's Holocaust sought to eradicate the Jewish communities who spoke it.

From Barron's

When my mother was young and she was over at her cousin Ruth’s house with family, Ruth’s mom would say in Yiddish, “Ruth, play the violin.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Performing “Fiddler” in Yiddish returns the characters to the language of Sholem Aleichem’s stories, the fictional world from which they sprung.

From Los Angeles Times