safek

Edit

Pronunciations

safek (SUH-feik) listen
safek (sah-FEK) listen

Record a Pronunciation

Definitions

  • n. A doubt or doubtful case; suspicion.

  • n. An unresolved question, uncertainty.

Example Sentences

  • "We might think of a safek as a case with a sample space consisting of two opposite elements." (source)

  • "There's a sofek in the Rishoinim about how the Tanna Kama taitshes the posuk." (Weiser)

  • "The bochrim avoided that restaurant because of a sofek in the kashrus." (Weiser)

Record a Sentence

Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew
  • Yiddish

Etymology

  • ספק safek 'doubt' > Y ספֿק sofek

      • 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
      • Australia / New Zealand
      • Great Britain
      • South Africa

      Dictionaries

      • Yiddish and English: A Century of Yiddish in America, by Sol Steinmetz (Tuscaloosa, 1986).
      • Frumspeak: The First Dictionary of Yeshivish, by Chaim Weiser (Northvale, 1995).
      • Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Popular Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms, by Sol Steinmetz (Lanham, MD, 2005).

      Alternative Spellings

      sofek, safeik, sofeik, safeyk, sofeyk, safayk, sofayk

Edit     Something missing from this entry? Inaccurate? Feel free to suggest an edit.