kumzits

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Pronunciations

kumzits (KOOM-zits) listen

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Definitions

  • n. A campfire gathering, sometimes with singing.

Example Sentences

  • "I always loved the Sunday night kumzits at camp."

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Languages of Origin

  • Yiddish
  • Modern Hebrew

Etymology

  • Y קום kum 'come' + Y זיץ zits 'sit' > MH קומזיץ

      • Who Uses This

      • Camp: Jews who attend or work at a Jewish overnight summer camp

      Regions

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

      Dictionaries

      • Yiddish and English: A Century of Yiddish in America, by Sol Steinmetz (Tuscaloosa, 1986).

      Alternative Spellings

      kumsits, kumzitz

Notes

  • "Despite the existence of a Talmudic term, 'tuzitz' for the same activity, and the fact that Israeli linguists attempted to replace the colloquial term with a 'pure Hebrew' alternative: 'Shev-na' ('please sit'), 'kumzitz' never gave up its seat in the collective culture and history of Israel." (source)

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