Definitions

• n. The Hebrew alphabet.

• n. The basics; the beginning.

• n. (alef-beys) The Yiddish (or Hebrew) alphabet.

Example Sentences

Languages of Origin

• Textual Hebrew
• Yiddish
• Modern Hebrew

Etymology

• TH אלף בית alef bet, Y אַלף־בית álef-beys

Who Uses This

• Jews: Jews of diverse religious backgrounds and organizational involvements

Regions

• North America
• Great Britain
• South Africa
• Australia / New Zealand

Dictionaries

• The New Joys of Yiddish, by Leo Rosten and Lawrence Bush (New York, 2003[1968]).
• 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).
• The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).
• View More

Alternative Spellings

aleph-bet, aleph-beis, aleph-bais, aleph-beys, alef-beis, alef-bet, aleph bet, alef bet, alef beis, aleph beys, aleph bais, aleph beis, aleph bet, alef-beys