am ha'aretz

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Pronunciations

am ha'aretz (UHM huh-UH-rets) listen
am ha'aretz (ahm ah-AH-rets) listen

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Definitions

  • n. Vulgar, boorish person.

  • n. Bumpkin, ignoramus, uneducated person.

  • n. People of the land.

Example Sentences

  • "Am Ha’aretz was created to bring environmental awareness to the Jewish and broader communities on campus, through a series of events and initiatives." (source)

  • "Stop being an am haaretz."

  • "It is a shame that you are such a biggot and am haaretz yourself. This has nothing to do with halacha, it has to do with common sense, if you saw a person hit by a car in the street on Shabbos, would you not call for hatzolah and offer aid to the person to prevent their death [on] Shabbos or Yom Tov?" (source)

  • "Some of these colleges almost seem to breed amratsim." (Glinert)

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Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew
  • Yiddish

Etymology

  • TH עם הארץ am haárets > Y עם־האָרץ amórets (plural עמי־הארצים amerátsim)

      • Who Uses This

      • Orthodox: Jews who identify as Orthodox and observe halacha (Jewish law)
      • Older: Jews who are middle-aged and older
      • Ashkenazim: Jews with Ashkenazi heritage

      Regions

      • North America
      • Great Britain
      • South Africa

      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 Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).
      • Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Popular Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms, by Sol Steinmetz (Lanham, MD, 2005).
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      Alternative Spellings

      am horets, am ha-aretz, amoretz, amorets, am haaretz, am haarets, am ha-arets

Notes

  • The term is Talmudic in origin. It is literally "people of the land" and originally could mean "the People of Israel." However, its usual meaning in the Talmud and thereafter comes from the notion of "people who work the land," i.e., "peasant." From there it became "ignoramus, uneducated, boorish". In recent years it has been reappropriated by some eco-Jews to emphasize Jews' connection to the land.

    See also ameratses.

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