sechel

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Pronunciations

sechel (SEI-chuhl) listen
sechel (SEH-chel) listen

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Definitions

  • n. "Common sense" (JPS), intelligence.

Example Sentences

  • "She should use her saykhel for such an important decision."

  • “This time, we are not dealing with a rasha (an evil person) but a person who lacks sechel” (source)

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Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew
  • Yiddish

Etymology

  • Heb שכל sékhel, Yiddish שׂכל séykhl

      • Who Uses This

      • Religious: Jews who are engaged in religious observance and have some Jewish education

      Regions

      • North America
      • Great Britain
      • South Africa
      • Australia / New Zealand
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      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).
      • The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
      • The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).
      • Frumspeak: The First Dictionary of Yeshivish, by Chaim Weiser (Northvale, 1995).
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      Alternative Spellings

      saykhel, seychel, seykhel, seichel, seykhl, saichel

Notes

  • This word originally stems from Hebrew but is more closely associated with Yiddish discourse.

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