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Yiddish

[yid-ish]

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noun

a High German language with an admixture of vocabulary from Hebrew and the Slavic languages, written in Hebrew letters, and spoken mainly by Jews in eastern and central Europe and by Jewish emigrants from these regions and their descendants.

adjective

of, relating to, or characteristic of Yiddish.

Origin of Yiddish

1885–90; < Yiddish yidish; see yid, -ish¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for yiddish

Contemporary Examples of yiddish

In the midst of the clubbiness, there is a heimishe (Yiddish for familiar, old school) quality.
The Craziest Date Night for Single Jews, Where Mistletoe Is Ditched for Shots
Emily Shire
December 26, 2014
In Paris, a new generation of entrepreneurs are launching initiatives to perpetuate the Yiddish way of life.
Paris's Nouveau Yiddish Culture
Laurent David Samama
September 3, 2014
Take, for instance, Yiddish Mamma, a young Parisian brand that peddles its wares with love and humour.
Paris's Nouveau Yiddish Culture
Laurent David Samama
September 3, 2014
They go to schools where they are taught only in Yiddish and only about Jewish subjects.
Why Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Babies Keep Getting Herpes
Emily Shire
July 29, 2014
Well, the joke was, I discovered finally, that A sounds like ei in Yiddish.
Mel Brooks Is Always Funny and Often Wise in This 1975 Playboy Interview
Alex Belth
February 16, 2014

Historical Examples of yiddish

I could read while daylight lasted, if I chose, in the Yiddish.
The Promised Land
Mary Antin
Ink was cheap, and the epistle, in Yiddish, occupied me for many hot summer hours.
The Promised Land
Mary Antin
The Yiddish newspapers of the day were excellent, and my father subscribed to the best of them.
The Promised Land
Mary Antin
They tell me the old spout shop is now turned into a Yiddish theatre.
A Pirate of Parts
Richard Neville
Nor did she ever know that she had said these words in Yiddish!
Ghetto Comedies
Israel Zangwill

British Dictionary definitions for yiddish

Yiddish

noun

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

adjective

in or relating to this language

Word Origin for Yiddish

C19: from German jüdisch, from Jude Jew

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for yiddish

Yiddish

1875, from Yiddish yidish, from Middle High German jüdisch "Jewish" (in phrase jüdisch deutsch "Jewish-German"), from jude "Jew," from Old High German judo, from Latin Judaeus (see Jew). The English word has been re-borrowed in German as jiddisch.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper