10 Hebrew Words for the Spring

10 Hebrew Words for the Spring

]1. [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]אביב – spring (season)

The Hebrew word for the season of spring is [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]אביב. It is related to the Amharic word for flower, አበባ – abeba, as in the capital city of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa.

Amharic, the most widely-spoken language in Ethiopia, is a Semitic language and thus has many cognate words with Hebrew.

2. [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]התחדשות – renewal

The Hebrew word for new is חדש[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /], which forms the root of [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]התחדשות – renewal.

For example: 

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]אביב הוא זמן של התחדשות.

Spring is a time of renewal.

3. [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]פריחה – bloom

You may recognize in [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]פריחה – bloom – the Hebrew word for flower, [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]פרח.

Here’s פריחה in context:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]האמת היא שהפריחה מתחילה כבר לפני האביב.

The truth is that the bloom starts before the spring.

4. [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]לבלוב – budding

While פריחה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /] is bloom or blooming, לבלוב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /] is budding, deriving from the פיעל verb ללבלב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /] – to bud.

For example:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]הגפנים מלבלבות באביב.

The vines bud in the spring.

5. [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]לרענן – to refresh

You may have heard of the Israeli city Raanana. Perhaps you even live there.

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]רעננה means fresh… and לרענן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /] means to refresh. This refreshing can involve rejuvenation, or it could be done on a web browser, as in:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]לפעמים הדף נתקע וצריך לרענן אותו.

Sometimes the page gets stuck and you need to refresh it.

6. [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]מזג אוויר נאה – good weather

With springtime comes a break from the cold of the winter. Weather in Hebrew is [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]מזג אוויר – literally, the temper of the air. Good, or literally fair weather is מזג אוויר נאה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /].

7. [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]מצב רוח – mood

More hours of sun and better weather can help lift one’s mood. 

The Hebrew expression for mood is [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]מצב רוח – literally, state of the spirit.

For example:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]היום היא במצב רוח יותר טוב.

Today she’s in a better mood.

8. [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]שעון קיץ – daylight savings time

This relic of the industrial revolution is called [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]שעון קיץ in Hebrew – literally, summer clock.

For example:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]באביב עוברים לשעון קיץ.

In the spring we move to daylight savings time.

9. ניקיון[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /] – cleaning

Something clean is [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]נקי in Hebrew.

To clean is [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]לנקות.

And cleanliness – as well as the actions necessary to arrive at it – is [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]ניקיון.

For example:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]לפני פסח הוא עובד בניקיון בתים.

Before Passover, he works in cleaning houses.

10. [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]חג – holiday

During the spring Jews celebrate [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]חג הפסח – the Passover holiday, also called [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]חג האביב – the spring holiday.

The word [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]חג itself originally meant pilgrimage, as we can see in the Arabic word حاج – haj, the Islamic mandate to make a pilgrimage to Mecca. חג as holiday makes sense, since Passover and other holidays traditionally involve a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in days that the Temple stands.

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]חג אביב שמח – happy spring holiday!

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