kaddish

See also: Kaddish

English

WOTD – 27 January 2021

Etymology

Borrowed from Hebrew קַדִּישׁ (kadish, “kaddish”), from Aramaic קַדִּישׁ (qaddīš, “holy; holy person”). Doublet of kiddush.

The plural form kaddishim is borrowed from Hebrew קַדִּישׁים (kadishim).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkædɪʃ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑdɪʃ/
• Rhymes: -ædɪʃ
• Hyphenation: kad‧dish
• Homophone: caddish

Noun

kaddish (plural kaddishes or kaddishim)

2. (Judaism) A Jewish prayer of praise to God recited during services, and specifically when mourning the death of a close relative.
   • 1963, “Symphony No. 3 ‘Kaddish’”, Samuel Pisar (lyrics), Leonard Bernstein (music):

     O, my Father: ancient, hallowed
     Lonely, disappointed Father:
     Betrayed and rejected Ruler of the Universe:
     Angry, wrinkled Old Majesty:
     I want to pray
     I want to say Kaddish
     My own Kaddish. There may be
     No one to say it after me

   • 2023 October 14, Simon Schama, “Let us be, to grieve, rage, weep; say the mourners' kaddish”, in FT Weekend, page 9:

     So context me no contexts, analyse me no analyses, suspend your partially informed diagnoses; leave off your strenuous efforts at even-handedness. Let us be, to grieve, rage, weep; say the mourners' kaddish.

Alternative forms

• Kaddish
• qaddish

Translations

Jewish prayer of praise to God

• Czech: kadiš m
• Danish: kaddish c
• Dutch: kaddisj (nl) m or f
• Finnish: kaddiš
• French: kaddish (fr) m, qaddich (fr) m
• German: Kaddisch (de) n

  Alemannic German: Kaddisch m

• Hebrew: קַדִּישׁ (he) m (kadish)
• Hungarian: kádis
• Kyrgyz: каддиш (ky) (kaddiş)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kaddísj m

  Nynorsk: kaddísj m

• Polish: kadisz m, kadysz (pl) m
• Portuguese: kadish m
• Romanian: kadiș n
• Russian: кадиш m (kadiš)
• Slovak: kaddiš m
• Spanish: kadish (es) m
• Ukrainian: каддиш m (kaddyš)
• Yiddish: קדיש m (kdish)

Further reading

• kaddish on Wikipedia.Wikipedia