sefer

Definitions

• "A literary composition written particularly of, on, or about the Torah" (Weiser)
• Hebrew or Aramaic book

Example Sentences

• "What sefer are you learning?"

Languages of Origin

• Textual Hebrew
• Yiddish

Etymology

• Heb ספר séfer 'book', Yiddish ספֿר séyfer 'holy book'

Who Uses This

• Orthodox: Jews who identify as Orthodox and observe halacha (Jewish law)

Regions

• North America

Dictionaries

• 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).
• Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Popular Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms, by Sol Steinmetz (Lanham, MD, 2005).
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Alternative Spellings

seyfer, seifer