abba

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Pronunciations

abba (AH-buh) listen
abba (UH-buh) listen
abba (AH-buh) listen

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Definitions

  • n. Father, dad, daddy.

Example Sentences

  • "My aba taught me how to cook scrambled eggs as a child."

    Listen to recordings of this sentence: ( Recording 1)

  • Of a child who misunderstood the Hebrew khayim aruchim 'long life', as khayot aruchot 'long animals': "'My moreh said that if we don't say lashon hara, we get long animals.' He paused, and looked confused. 'Aba, is that really true? Will we get long animals?'" (source)

    Listen to recordings of this sentence: ( Recording 1)

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Languages of Origin

  • Modern Hebrew

Etymology

  • אבא ába

      • Who Uses This

      • Religious: Jews who are engaged in religious observance and have some Jewish education
      • Israel: Diaspora Jews who feel connected to Israel and have spent time there
      • Younger: Jews in their 30s or younger

      Regions

      • North America
      • Australia / New Zealand

      Dictionaries

      • Yiddish and English: A Century of Yiddish in America, by Sol Steinmetz (Tuscaloosa, 1986).
      • The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
      • Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Popular Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms, by Sol Steinmetz (Lanham, MD, 2005).

      Alternative Spellings

      aba

Notes

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