Pronunciations
| kapara | (kah-PAH-rah) | listen |
Definitions
n. (term of endearment) Sweetie.
n. The sacrificial chicken, fish, or money swung or held above one's head on Yom Kippur so his/her sins can be transferred to the animal, which is then sacrificed, or money, which is then donated.
interj. An interjection uttered after a minor mishap, meaning that it should be atonement for one's sins.
n. Atonement, punishment for one's sins.
n. A scapegoat.
interj. (sometimes preceded by 'a') An expression of frustrated dismissal of something; to hell with.
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Example Sentences
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"What's wrong, kapara?"
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"We were set upon by a swarm of angry bees on the last afternoon of the hike. We were each stung multiple times... his first reaction after we outran them was 'kapparah!' It was a few weeks before Rosh Hashanah and I told him his words were doubly appropriate."
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“A kapore on the car; just so no one was hurt!" (NJY)
Languages of Origin
- Textual Hebrew
- Ladino
- Arabic / Judeo-Arabic
- Modern Hebrew
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Etymology
sense 1: TH > JA כפרה / كپّارة kumpāra > MH כַּפָּרָה kapára
sense 2, 4, 6: TH > MH כַּפָּרָה kapará
senses 2, 3, 4, 5, 6: TH > Y כּפּרה kapore
senses 2, 3, 4: TH > L kapara
- Israel: Diaspora Jews who feel connected to Israel and have spent time there
- Jews: Jews of diverse religious backgrounds and organizational involvements
- North America
- 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).
- Yinglish: A Lexicon of Judeo-English by Aliza Bulow
Who Uses This
Regions
Dictionaries
Alternative Spellings
kappara, kaparah, kapparah, kaporeh, kapore, kapora, kaporah
Notes
plural: 'kaparot' or 'kaparos'
See also oyf kapores, shlogn kapores, and kumparayena.
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