almone

Pronunciations

almone (ahl-MAW-neh) listen

Definitions

  • n. A widow.

Example Sentences

  • “Did this, in some small measure, help console the widow? No. For what the almone wailed was: 'My poor Isadore—all his life he worked, day and night, and we lived poor as mice, and just when God decides to drop a fortune in our lap, Izzy drops dead!'" (NJY)

  • "Marian Robinson, Michelle Obama's mother, is a 'almone' (widow) and retired bank secretary." (source)

Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew
  • Yiddish

Etymology

  • TH אלמנה > Y אַלמנה almone

    • Who Uses This

      • Older: Jews who are middle-aged and older
      • Ashkenazim: Jews with Ashkenazi heritage

      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).

      Alternative Spellings

      almona, almoona, almoneh, almoonah, almonah

Notes

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