Originally, the Hebrew rega רגע and Aramaic shaah שעה were synonymous - both meant "instant" or "moment". Rega appear...

My wife asked me if there is any connection between the English word "crash" and the Hebrew verb קרס - which means to "collap...

It's hard to believe, but today is ten years since my first post on Balashon. According to my official statistics (since May 2010, so I...

One of the few Hebrew words that most English speakers know is "kosher". When used to describe food, it means that it conforms to ...

Let's take a look at the root פלל. It is appears both in the verb hitpalel התפלל - "prayed" and the adjective plili פלילי -...

A friend asked why the verb עולה oleh means both "to go up" and "to cost". Let's look at the various, but related, ...

Reader Gavriel asked about the history and etymology of the word  androlomusia אנדרולומוסיה (or אנדרלמוסיה) meaning "chaos, confusion,...

The modern Hebrew phrase le'asot chayim לעשות חיים literally means "to make [a] life", but has the sense of "to live it ...

Hard to believe, but this is Balashon's 500th post! Since I started the site in February 2006, there have been many fluctuations in post...

A friend recently asked me why Hebrew used the same word - tik תיק - for both "bag, satchel" and "file, dossier, portfolio...

During the Pesach vacation, we visited the Biblical Museum of Natural History in Bet Shemesh. It's a really interesting museum, with li...

In Israel's last election cycle, there was much mention of the word hitnatzel התנצל - to apologize. This is the hitpael form of the ro...

A reader asked if there is any connection between the Hebrew word for wallet or purse - ארנק arnak , and the French word  arnaque - "t...

We've discussed a number of Hebrew colors in the past - let's take a look at one less commonly used: tzachor צחור. In the Even-S...

On Shabbat, a friend asked me if there was any connection between the word miluim מילואים used in describing the construction and service i...

A reader asked about the origin of the word dagesh דגש - the grammatical term for the dot put in Hebrew consonants, either to "harden...

In the Book of Esther, it says that the Jews "established and accepted" (the laws of Purim) - קִיְּמוּ וְקִבְּלוּ kimu v'kiblu...

In the discussion of the word kaftor כפתור, I presented a theory that it derives from the word keter כתר - "crown". Let's ta...

In the description of the menorah in Shemot 25:31, we see mention of the word kaftor כפתור. The word is translated in various translations ...