b'laz
Edit Pronunciations
| b'laz | (be-LAHZ) | listen |
Definitions
adv. In a vernacular or foreign language (i.e., not Hebrew or Yiddish).
adv. Also known as (to introduce an alternate name).
Example Sentences
-
"Rashi often includes vocabulary 'b'laz' to help his medieval French readers."
Languages of Origin
- Textual Hebrew
- Yiddish
Etymology
בלע"ז abbreviation for בלשון עם זר b'loshn am zar 'in a foreign language'
- Orthodox: Jews who identify as Orthodox and observe halacha (Jewish law)
- Older: Jews who are middle-aged and older
- Ashkenazim: Jews with Ashkenazi heritage
- North America
- Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Popular Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms, by Sol Steinmetz (Lanham, MD, 2005).
- Yiddish and English: A Century of Yiddish in America, by Sol Steinmetz (Tuscaloosa, 1986).
Who Uses This
Regions
Dictionaries
Alternative Spellings
belaaz, b'laaz, b'la'az
Notes
Often used by the commentator Rashi when using a Middle French expression.
La'az refers to "lashon am zar," and the "b" prefix means "in."
La'az / lo'ez means foreign language, as found in the phrase "Me'am Lo'ez", from a people who speak a foreign language.
The Yiddish b(e)láz can humorously express the meaning 'otherwise known as'.
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