Torah

Alternative Spellings

Torah, Toyre, Toirah, Tora

Definitions

• Teaching (this is the literal meaning in Hebrew and sometimes used in Jewish English)
• The five books of Moses
• Jewish law and values in general
• general Jewish learning/knowledge

Example Sentences

• "I taught this week's Torah portion to my religious school class."

Languages of Origin

Textual Hebrew

Etymology

תורה

Who Uses This

Jews: Jews of diverse religious backgrounds and organizational involvements

Regions

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

Dictionaries

The New Joys of Yiddish, by Leo Rosten and Lawrence Bush (New York, 2003[1968]).
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 Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms, by Sol Steinmetz (Lanham, MD, 2005).
The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001)