shivah
Pronunciations
shivah | (SHIH-vuh) | listen |
Definitions
n. The week-long period of mourning after the death of a relative, during which close relatives stay at home and greet visitors.
Example Sentences
"The Feingolds can't come to our party, they're sitting shiva."
Languages of Origin
- Textual Hebrew
Etymology
Heb שבעה shivá, Yiddish שיבֿעה shíve; זיצן שיבֿעה zitsn shive 'to sit shiva, observe the seven days of mourning'
- Jews: Jews of diverse religious backgrounds and organizational involvements
- Non-Jews: (words that have spread outside of Jewish networks)
- North America
- Great Britain
- South Africa
- Australia / New Zealand
- The New Joys of Yiddish, by Leo Rosten and Lawrence Bush (New York, 2003[1968]).
- 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).
- View More
Who Uses This
Regions
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Alternative Spellings
shiva
Notes
"sit shiva" and "shiva call" are common phrases.
Mourners traditionally sit on low stools during this time, so someone in mourning is said to be 'sitting shiva'.
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