mishpacha

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Pronunciations

mishpacha (meesh-pah-KHAH) listen
mishpoche (mish-PUH-khuh) listen

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Definitions

  • n. Family.

  • n. Ancestors, lineage.

Example Sentences

  • "I think it's a miracle that we're still here, you my mishpacha are miracles to me. I'm sickened that my existence is something many think I must justify and even more don't think can be justified. But I will go down with this ship, I pray I, we, don't ever have to" (source)

  • "Do you really plan on inviting the whole mishpacha?" (Glinert)

  • "We have a lot of mishpacha in Jerusalem." (Glinert)

  • "Let’s invite the whole mishpachah to our seder this year." (JPS)

  • "Do you really plan on inviting the whole mishpacha?" (Glinert)

  • "We have a lot of mishpacha in Jerusalem." (Glinert)

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Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew
  • Yiddish
  • Modern Hebrew

Etymology

  • TH מִשְׁפָּחָה > Y משפּחה mishpókhe, MH מִשְׁפָּחָה mishpakhá

      • Who Uses This

      • Religious: Jews who are engaged in religious observance and have some Jewish education
      • Israel: Diaspora Jews who feel connected to Israel and have spent time there

      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).
      • The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).
      • 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).
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      Alternative Spellings

      mishpocheh, mishpachah, mishpakhah, mishpakha, mishpoche, mishpokheh, mishpokhe

Notes

  • "In the Bible, [mishpachah is] a 'clan' or 'extended family.' And that's how mishpoche went on being used in the bosom of Yiddish, and still among Jews everywhere today." (Glinert)

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