badchen

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Definitions

  • n. A merry maker as at a Jewish wedding or other Jewish celebration.

Example Sentences

  • "I've heard that the badchen at my great grandparents' wedding made my great great grandfather laugh so hard he spit schnapps out of his nose."

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Languages of Origin

  • Yiddish
  • Textual Hebrew

Etymology

  • Heb. בדחן / בַּדְחָן badchan > Yid. בדחן batkhn / badkhn 'joker, entertainer'

      • Who Uses This

      • Orthodox: Jews who identify as Orthodox and observe halacha (Jewish law)
      • Ashkenazim: Jews with Ashkenazi heritage

      Regions

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

      Dictionaries

      • The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
      • Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Popular Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms, by Sol Steinmetz (Lanham, MD, 2005).

      Alternative Spellings

      badkhen, badchn, badkhn

Notes

  • "At a wedding, the badchen would sing songs and recite poems specifically written for the bride and groom, as well as make toasts, dance and tell tales from the Midrash" (JPS). Read more here and here.

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