Yiddish

American

[yid-ish] / ˈyɪd ɪʃ /

noun

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.

adjective

of, relating to, or characteristic of Yiddish.

Yiddish British

/ ˈjɪdɪʃ /

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

"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

adjective

in or relating to this language

"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

Etymology

Origin of Yiddish

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

He recorded a collection of Yiddish songs, “Brighton Beach Memories,” in 2003, and a children’s album, “Waking Up Is Hard to Do,” in 2009.

From Los Angeles Times

She began having long conversations with Father in Yiddish, speaking a language she had once despised to a man who no longer existed.

From Literature

Luboml, formerly in Poland and now part of Ukraine, was one such a shtetl, to use the Yiddish word for town.

From The Wall Street Journal

“I Have Sinned” was the first Yiddish sound film made in Poland.

From The Wall Street Journal

After all, to the ordinary eye, Clara and Molly were the young and talented stewards of one of the great landmarks of the neighborhood, an independent cinema that honored its roots as a Yiddish stage.

From Literature

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023