agunah

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Pronunciations

agunah (ah-GUU-nuh) listen
agunah (ah-goo-NAH) listen

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Definitions

  • n. A woman whose husband has refused her a get.

  • n. A woman who is unable to remarry, due to the fact that her husband is missing and it is not known whether her husband is alive or dead.

Example Sentences

  • "The plight of agunahs has become a great concern to the Jewish community in recent years."

  • "After the Holocaust, this posek was able to be matir many agunos."

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Languages of Origin

  • Yiddish

Etymology

  • TH עגונה 'lit. chained woman' (plural עגונות agunot) > Y עגונה agune

      • 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 JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
      • Yiddish and English: A Century of Yiddish in America, by Sol Steinmetz (Tuscaloosa, 1986).

      Alternative Spellings

      aguna, agune

Notes

  • Plural agunot / agunos or (nonstandard) agunas / agunahs.

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