talmid chacham

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Pronunciations

talmid chacham (TAL-mid KHUH-khum) listen
talmid chacham (tal-MEED kha-KHAM) listen

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Definitions

Example Sentences

  • "Now his uncle, he was a real talmid chacham—he knew Gemara backward." (Glinert)

  • "If one knew Tanach or Medresh Rabbah well or even all 4 parts of Shulchan Aruch relatively well, then is he a Talmid Chochum?" (source)

  • "After marriage and five years of kest (the equivalent of kollel that existed for promising young talmidei chachamim in pre-World War I Eastern Europe), he became rav in Kveidan, a town near Kovno, Lithuania, where he remained through World War I before he moved to America." (source)

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Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew
  • Yiddish

Etymology

  • TH תלמיד חכם 'wise student, scholar' > Y תלמיד חכם talmid chochem, 'man of Jewish learning' (especially one who is learned in Talmud)

      • Who Uses This

      • Orthodox: Jews who identify as Orthodox and observe halacha (Jewish law)

      Regions

      • North America

      Dictionaries

      • The New Joys of Yiddish, by Leo Rosten and Lawrence Bush (New York, 2003[1968]).
      • The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).
      • 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).
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      Alternative Spellings

      talmid chakham, talmid haham

Notes

  • plural: 'talmidei chachomim' or 'talmidei chachamim'

    See also talmid and chacham.

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