Shabbat

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Pronunciations

Shabbat (shuh-BOT) listen
Shabbos (SHAH-biss) listen

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Definitions

  • n. The Jewish Sabbath; Saturday.

Example Sentences

  • "I will be going to temple for Shabbat services this Friday night."

  • "Where will you be spending Shabbos?"

  • "What time does Shabbat come in this Friday?" (Glinert)

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Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew
  • Yiddish
  • Modern Hebrew

Etymology

  • TH שבת > Y שבת shabes (plural שבתים shabosim), MH שַׁבָּת shabát (plural שַׁבָּתוֹת shabatot)

      • 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

      Dictionaries

      • The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
      • The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).
      • Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Popular Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms, by Sol Steinmetz (Lanham, MD, 2005).

      Alternative Spellings

      Shabat, Shabbos, Shabos, Shabbas, Shabas, Shabbes, Shabes

Notes

  • Sephardi/non-Orthodox Ashkenazi plural: 'shabbatot'
    Orthodox Ashkenazi plural: 'shabossim'

    'Shabbat' is the Sephardi/Modern Hebrew pronunciation/spelling, while 'Shabbos' is the Ashkenazi spelling/pronunciation, although many non-Orthodox Ashkenazi Jews use 'Shabbat' or use both. The spelling 'Shabbos' became crystallized as the most common spelling in America in the 1910s, influenced by the komets vowel in the Ashkenazi Hebrew spelling.

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