chai

Alternative Spellings

chay

Definitions

• "Literally, 'life'" (JPS); 18 (see note)

Example Sentences

• "You should donate $18 because it's 'chai'."

Languages of Origin

Textual Hebrew

Etymology

חי

Who Uses This

Religious: Jews who are engaged in religious observance and have some Jewish education

Regions

North America

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).

Notes

The numerical value of the word chai is '18', so the number 18 is sometimes referred to as 'chai'.