segula
Pronunciations
segula | (seh-GOO-luh) | listen |
Definitions
n. A folk remedy, safeguard, superstitious action, talisman.
n. A divinely bestowed reward as a result of an individual's participation in a minhag or mitzvah.
Example Sentences
"The mitzvah of proper burial is such a holy one. Our Rabbis tell us it is a sgula for long life to buy a burial plot (to be used after 120 years)." (source)
"We have a Minhag to give out a small bag with salt as a Segula for Hashem to guard us, we put it in our pocket. or Tefillin bag. Is this Avoda Zara, or superstition?" (source)
Languages of Origin
- Textual Hebrew
- Yiddish
Etymology
TH סגולה segulá > Y סגולה zgúle
- Orthodox: Jews who identify as Orthodox and observe halacha (Jewish law)
- Older: Jews who are middle-aged and older
- Ashkenazim: Jews with Ashkenazi heritage
- North America
- South Africa
- Australia / New Zealand
- Yiddish and English: A Century of Yiddish in America, by Sol Steinmetz (Tuscaloosa, 1986).
- The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).
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Alternative Spellings
zgule, sgule, skula, s'gulah, s'gula, sgula, segulah
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