teva

Alternative Spellings

tevah

Definitions

• character (quality of a person or thing)
• nature

Example Sentences

• Teva chug will be going on a tiyul to Mount Rainier. Meet at the lower moadon after peulat boker.
• "The teva of dorm life is that there's never enough of anything but germs" (Weiser, Frumspeak, p. 97)

Languages of Origin

Textual Hebrew, Yiddish, Modern Hebrew

Etymology

טבע 'nature; character; imprint'

Who Uses This

Orthodox: Jews who identify as Orthodox and observe halacha (Jewish law)
Camp: Jews who attend or work at a Jewish overnight summer camp

Regions

North America

Dictionaries

Frumspeak: The First Dictionary of Yeshivish, by Chaim Weiser (Northvale, 1995).

Notes

Independently used by campers (Modern Hebrew borrowing) and in Yeshivish circles (Textual Hebrew). Also found in Yiddish, where it has the same meanings ('nature; character').