בראשית

Hebrew

Etymology

From the opening phrase of the first book of the Torah: בְּ־ (b'-, “in”) + רֵאשִׁית (reshít, “beginning”), literally “in [the] beginning”.

Pronunciation

• (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /b(e)ʁeˈʃit/
• (Ashkenazi Hebrew) IPA^(key): /b(ə)rejˈʃis/
• (Sephardi Hebrew) IPA^(key): /beˌreːˈʃit/
• (Mizrahi Hebrew) IPA^(key): /baˌreːˈʃi(ː)θ/
• (Yemenite Hebrew) IPA^(key): /băˌreːˈʃiθ/
• (Tiberian Hebrew) IPA^(key): [baˌʀ̟eːˈʃiː(i)θ]

• Audio:

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Adverb

בְּרֵאשִׁית • (bereshít)

1. in the beginning, at first

Synonyms

• תחילה (tḥilá)

Proper noun

בְּרֵאשִׁית • (bereshít) m

1. (religion, biblical) Genesis (the first book in the Hebrew Bible); the Book of Bereshit

   Synonym: סֵפֶר בְּרֵאשִׁית (séfer bereshít)

2. the first parashah of this book
3. (Talmud) the creation (in religious sense)

Derived terms

• בראשית רבה (bereshít rabá)
• בְּרֵאשִׁיתִי (bereshití)
• מִבְּרֵאשִׁית (mibereshít)

References

• Jastrow, Marcus (1903) A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature, London, New York: Luzac & Co., G.P. Putnam's Sons, page 189

Further reading

• בראשית on the Hebrew Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^he

Yiddish

Etymology

From Hebrew בְּרֵאשִׁית.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbʁɛɪ̯ʃəs/

Proper noun

בראשית • (breyshes) m

1. Book of Genesis

Noun

בראשית • (breyshes) m

1. genesis

Derived terms

• בראשיתדיק (breyshesdik, “primeval”)