how to say “genius” in Hebrew

 

גָּאוֹן, גְּאוֹנִי

 

 
If you like Israeli music, you’ve likely come across at least a couple of songs by Yehoram Gaon, such as this one.
 
The name Gaon – גָּאוֹן  listen and repeat – means excellence or majesty in Biblical Hebrew, but in Modern Hebrew it means genius
 
For example:
 
הַיַּלְדָּה הַזֹּאת פָּשׁוּט גָּאוֹן.
This girl is simply a genius.
 
Note that גאון refers to both males and females.
 
Now, that’s genius in the noun sense. To say that something is genius – to use genius in the adjective sense, you would use גְּאוֹנִי  listen and repeat when describing something masculine and גְּאוֹנִית  listen and repeat when describing something feminine. 
 
For example:
 
אֵיזֶה רַעְיוֹן גְּאוֹנִי!
What a genius idea!
 
גאון is related to the word גֵּאֶה  listen and repeat  – proud.

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