heimish

Alternative Spellings

hamish, haymish, heymish, haimish

Definitions

• 3. at home, comfortable
• 1. familiar, homey, informal, cozy, warm
• 2. Haredi Orthodox

Example Sentences

• "The president does have a heimishe neshama" (Call Your Zeyde: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWzCmeURev0)
• "I only eat food with haimish hashgacha."
• "This condo is my favorite so far. It feels so heymish."
• "The bochrim felt heimish enough by the balebatim to help themselves to anything in the fridge.” (Weiser)

Languages of Origin

Yiddish

Etymology

הײמיש heymish 'homey; cozy; familiar' (from הײם heym 'home')

Who Uses This

Orthodox: Jews who identify as Orthodox and observe halacha (Jewish law)
Jews: Jews of diverse religious backgrounds and organizational involvements

Regions

North America

Dictionaries

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).
The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
Frumspeak: The First Dictionary of Yeshivish, by Chaim Weiser (Northvale, 1995).

Notes

Haredi Jews use "heimish" as an adjective for individuals, events, businesses, and institutions, indicating that they are in-group. Other Jews use it with the more general meaning, usually not about individuals. Orthodox communities sometimes use "heimishe" preceding a noun.