The Hebrew word for "prophet" - נביא navi has a surprising number of suggested etymologies. Let's take a look at some of them...

Last week we discussed how  mistorin מסתורין is a Talmudic era "blend" of a Hebrew root and a Greek word. A more recent blend is...

The words seter סתר -"hideaway; secret" and setira   סתירה - "contradiction", seem to have the same root - סתר. However...

A reader wrote and asked how did keren קרן come to mean both "horn, ray" and "fund"? Both Even-Shoshan and Klein say ...

In the Bible, we find the word ketev קטב meaning "destruction, plague". It appears in this form in Devarim 32:24, Tehilim 91:6, a...

What is the origin of the Hebrew slang word chupar צ'ופר meaning "bonus" or "perk"? Ruvik Rosenthal in his Hebrew s...

The Hebrew word for waiter is meltzar   מלצר  (feminine meltzarit מלצרית). But Klein has the following definition and etymology: guardian...

Is there any connection between the Hebrew words nachash נחש - "snake", nichush ניחוש - "guess" and nechoshet נחושת -...

What is the origin of the rabbinic word for "inn" - פונדק pundak ? Klein provides the following etymology: From Greek pandaki...

There are three words in Hebrew for wall - kir קיר, choma חומה, and kotel כותל. What is the difference between them? All three are bibl...

Until recently, I would have assumed the words masorah מסורה / masoret מסורת - "tradition" and musar מוסר - "ethics" ...

A reader asked me if there was any connection between two meanings of the root גור - "to dwell" and "to fear". As you mi...

There are four different biblical words that all can mean "nation". Since they originate at the same time period, it will be diffi...

Is there a connection between the word zera זרע - "seed" and the skin affliction tzaraat צרעת - (frequently, although perhaps i...

Last week we discussed the root דמם , meaning "to be silent". Today we'll take a look at a synonym - the root חרש, which can a...

Is there any connection between the Hebrew homographs domeh - "similar" and dumah - "silence", both spelled דומה? Le...

A reader asked if there is any connection between yakar יקר - "precious" and makor מקור - "source". As far as I can te...

A reader asked about the origin of and difference between the two Hebrew words lama למה and madua מדוע, both generally translated into Eng...

The Hebrew root עבר is extremely common, and in general means "to pass" or "to pass over". (Despite the similarity to th...

Two Hebrew words that seem to have similar roots, but very different meanings are rahut רהוט - "fluent" and rahit רהיט - "f...