English
Yiddish
Yiddish comes from Yiddish ייִדיש ‘Yiddish, a spoken language of the Ashkenazi…’, from Ancient Greek Ἰουδαῖος ‘Jew or Judean’, and ultimately from Biblical Hebrew יְהוּדָה.
- Biblical Hebrewc. 1000–200 BCEיְהוּדָהYəhūḏā́
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἸούδᾱςIoudáas Ἰουδά
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEἸουδαῖοςIoudaîos‘Jew or Judean’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūdaeus‘Jewish, of or pertaining to the Jewish people’
- Old High Germanc. 750–1050judeo
- Old High German, derivedc. 750–1050judeisc
- Middle High Germanc. 1050–1350jüdesch
- Yiddishmodernייִדישyidish‘Yiddish, a spoken language of the Ashkenazi Jewish people’
- Englishearliest quotation 1983Yiddish
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Biblical Hebrewc. 1000–200 BCEיְהוּדָהYəhūḏā́
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἸούδᾱςIoudáas Ἰουδά
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEἸουδαῖοςIoudaîos‘Jew or Judean’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiūdaeus‘Jewish, of or pertaining to the Jewish people’
- Old High Germanc. 750–1050judeo
- Old High German, derivedc. 750–1050judeisc
- Middle High Germanc. 1050–1350jüdesch
- Yiddishmodernייִדישyidish‘Yiddish, a spoken language of the Ashkenazi Jewish people’
- Englishearliest quotation 1983Yiddish
Earliest quotation: 1983, Philip Baldi, An Introduction to the Indo-European Languages: “Yiddish is a High German language […] two varieties…”
Equivalent to Yid + -ish
Ancient Greek Ἰουδαῖος ‘Jew or Judean’
Latin iūdaeus ‘Jewish, of or pertaining to the Jewish people’
Old High German judeo
Middle High German jüde ‘a Jew’
Yiddish ייִד ‘Jew’
English Yid
The story
Borrowed from Yiddish ייִדיש (yidish), from Middle High German jüdisch (in reference to the language, more fully jüdischdiutsch (literally “Jewish-German”)).
Every English word from Biblical Hebrew יְהוּדָה
Today it means
adj Of or pertaining to the Yiddish language.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Biblical Hebrew יְהוּדָה / Yiddish