how to say “education” in Hebrew
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חִנּוּךְ, הַשְׂכָּלָה
In English, we might talk about grammar-school education, high-school education and a college education, but we use only one noun – education – and add an adjective to get more specific about the level.
Hebrew, however, uses two distinct words for two levels of education:
חִנּוּךְ refers to education received at home or at school through the end of high school.
refers to education received at home or at school through the end of high school. And הַשְׂכָּלָה refers to higher education or that which a person acquires on their own.
refers to higher education or that which a person acquires on their own.
חינוך can refer not only to the intellectual education received at home, but also to upbringing in general.
For example:
רוֹאִים עָלָיו שֶׁהוּא קִבֵּל חִנּוּךְ טוֹב בַּבַּיִת.
You can tell that he had a good upbringing (literally, It’s seen on him that received a good education at home.)
Likewise, an educated person – one who has done some learning beyond high school – is an אָדָם מַשְׂכִּיל .
.השכלה and משכיל (and מַשְׂכִּילָה in the feminine) come from the root שׂ.כ.ל (s.k.l) meaning intellect.
in the feminine) come from the root שׂ.כ.ל (s.k.l) meaning intellect.
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