how to say “nutrition” in Hebrew

The Hebrew word for contribution or donation is תְּרוּמָה (teh-roo-MAH). The original root of this word, contrary to one’s first intuition, is ר.ו.מ (r.w.m) meaning height. The ת (t) at the beginning takes the concept of height and creates a word meaning, that which is raised up towards a greater cause. Using the Biblical noun תרומה, Mishnaic Hebrew generated a verb meaning to raise up towards a greater cause… or to donate – לִתְרוֹם (leet-ROHM); thus another root – a super-root – was born, ת.ר.מ (t.r.m).


The makers of Modern Hebrew applied this process of using a root whose middle letter is ו (w) to create a word for the relatively new scientific concept of nutrition – תְּזוּנָה (teh-zoo-NAH). The original root of this word is ז.ו.נ (z.w.n), meaning sustenance, as in the name of the Jewish Grace after Meals – literally, the blessing of the food – בִּרְכַּת הַמָּזוֹן (beer-KAHT hah-mah-ZOHN).


It could also be said that תזונה takes the more everyday concept of food – מָזוֹן (mah-ZOHN) – and makes it more abstract and scientific with the word תזונה, nutrition.


Nutritious is תְּזוּנָתִי (teh-zoo-nah-TEE).