freilach

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Pronunciations

freilach (FRAY-luhch) listen

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Definitions

  • n. (plural: 'freylekhs') A cheerful tune; a Jewish folk dance performed at simchas.

  • adj. Happy, merry.

Example Sentences

  • "We'll dance some freylechs in honor of the occasion."

  • "Freylech news!" (subject of an e-mail to a Reform group announcing an engagement).

  • "The staff at Matzav.com would like to wish all of our readers around the globe ah freilichen Purim." (source)

  • "Good Shabbos. Have a freiliche Purim." (source)

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Languages of Origin

  • Yiddish

Etymology

  • פֿרײלעך freylekh 'happy, merry', פֿרײלעכס freylekhs 'a kind of lively dance'

      • Who Uses This

      • Religious: Jews who are engaged in religious observance and have some Jewish education
      • Older: Jews who are middle-aged and older
      • Ashkenazim: Jews with Ashkenazi heritage

      Regions

      • North America
      • Great Britain

      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).

      Alternative Spellings

      freylekh, freylech, fraylich, freilich, frailach

Notes

  • When used as an adjective preceding a noun, it generally takes a Yiddish adjectival suffix, as in: 'a freylekhn Purim', 'a freilechen Purim', 'a freileche Purim'.

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