dreidel

See also: Dreidel

English
WOTD – 10 December 2020

Etymology
A wooden dreidel (sense 1). The letters on the sides of the dreidel indicate actions to be taken in the game played with the top: נ‎ (nun) (Yiddish נישט‎ (nisht, “not”), meaning “nothing”), ג‎ (gimel) (גאַנץ‎ (gants, “entire, whole”)), ה‎ (hey) (האַלב‎ (halb, “half”)), and ש‎ (shin) (שטעל אַרײַן‎ (shtel arayn, “put in”)) (or פ‎ (pey)). However, according to folk etymology, the letters represent the Hebrew phrase נֵס גָּדוֹל הָיָה שָׁם‎ (nes gadól hayá sham, “a great miracle happened there”) or נֵס גָּדוֹל הָיָה פֹּה‎ (nes gadól hayá po, “a great miracle happened here”), referring to the miracle of the cruse of oil.

Borrowed from Yiddish דריידל‎ (dreydl, “dreidel; spinning top”), probably a blend of דרייען‎ (dreyen, “to spin; to turn; to twist”) +‎ טרענדל‎ (trendl, “(dated) dreidel; spinning top”). דרייען (dreyen) is derived from Old High German drāen (“to turn; to twist”), from Proto-Germanic *þrēaną (“to turn; to twist”), from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to turn; to rub; to drill, pierce”); and טרענדל (trendl) is derived from Middle High German trendel (“spinning top”), from Proto-Germanic *trandijaną (“to revolve, spin”).[1]

Pronunciation

Noun

dreidel (plural dreidels)

  1. A four-sided spinning top, inscribed with the four Hebrew letters נ‎ (nun), ג‎ (gimel), ה‎ (hey), and ש‎ (shin) (or פ‎ (pey)) on each side, often used to play a traditional game during the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.
    • 1927, Samuel S. Grossman (lyrics), Samuel Eliezer Goldfarb or Mikhl Gelbart (music), “I Have a Little Dreidel”:
      I have a little dreidel. I made it out of clay. / And when it's dry and ready, then dreidel I shall play. / Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, I made it out of clay. / Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, then dreidel I shall play.
  2. A gambling game played using this top.

Alternative forms

Translations

See also

References
  1. Compare “dreidel, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2019; “dreidel, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

Anagrams

Portuguese

Noun

dreidel m (plural dreidels)

  1. dreidel (four-sided spinning top with Hebrew letters)
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