bashert

Alternative Spellings

beshert

Definitions

• JPS: "Predestined, fated." Soul mate.

Example Sentences

• "His meeting her so randomly was bashert." "Is it possible that this guy was my bashert and I totally messed it up? " (http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/missing-your-bashert)

Languages of Origin

Yiddish

Etymology

באַשערט

Who Uses This

Religious: Jews who are engaged in religious observance and have some Jewish education
Older: Jews who are middle-aged and older

Regions

North America

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).

Notes

In Yiddish, bashert is an adjective that takes on endings according to the gender of the referent, e.g. מײַן באַשערטער mayn basherter 'my fated one (male)', מײַן באַשערטע mayn basherte 'my fated one (female)', and according to its function within a sentence (its case). Bashert without an ending is the form that has entered Jewish-English.