neshama

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Pronunciations

neshama (neh-SHUH-muh) listen
neshama (neh-shah-MAH) listen
neshama (neh-SHAH-muh) listen

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Definitions

  • n. A soul.

Example Sentences

  • "He already has such a Jewish neshama." (upon hearing of the news of a friend who finally converted to Judaism)

  • “He is a tortured neshome.” (NJY)

  • "OK, he's a real jerk, but he has a good neshama." (Glinert)

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Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew
  • Yiddish

Etymology

  • TH נשמה neshamá > Y נשמה neshóme

      • Who Uses This

      • Religious: Jews who are engaged in religious observance and have some Jewish education

      Regions

      • North America
      • Great Britain
      • South Africa

      Dictionaries

      • The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
      • The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).
      • The New Joys of Yiddish, by Leo Rosten and Lawrence Bush (New York, 2003[1968]).

      Alternative Spellings

      neshome, neshume, neshame, neshameh

Notes

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