Yiddish

American  

[yid-ish] / ˈjɪd 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; see yid, -ish ¹

Example Sentences

My father was born in a shtetl outside Kyiv — didn’t speak Russian, spoke Yiddish.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 2, 2026

My mother, who was adept at Yiddish, didn’t keep kosher, but no ham or other pork products ever appeared in her refrigerator or on her well-plenished shelves.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026

His grandparents, Boris and Bessie Thomashefsky, were founding members of the Yiddish Theater in America.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 23, 2026

By 1904, the congregation’s old guard had dismissed his preference for sermons presented in English rather than Yiddish, which many of their immigrant family members still preferred.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026

Some players at the Manhattan Chess Club began huffing that he was a meshuggener—a Yiddish term of disparagement suggesting he was “a little crazy.”

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady