sechel

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Pronunciations

sechel (SAY-khuul) listen
sechel (SEH-khel) listen

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Definitions

  • n. Common sense, 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)

  • "The car won't start? Well, don't keep on pumping it. Use a bit of sechel." (Glinert)

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Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew
  • Yiddish

Etymology

  • TH שכל sékhel > Y שׂכל séykhl

      • Who Uses This

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

      Regions

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

      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

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