how to say “political party” in Hebrew

 

מִפְלָגָה

 

 
Elections are taking place in Israel tomorrow, so here’s the word for political party: מִפְלָגָה  listen and repeat.
 
For example:
 
לְאֵיזוֹ מִפְלָגָה אַתְּ מַצְבִּיעָה?
Which party are you (a female) voting for?
 
Though the concept of political party is a modern one, the word existed in Bibical Hebrew. It appears once in the Bible, in the book of Chronicles (דִּבְרֵי הַיָּמִים  listen and repeat), where it refers to groups within large families getting together for the Passover sacrifice.
 
The word’s root – פ.ל.ג (p.l.g) – belongs to a family of roots whose first two letters are פ.ל (p.l) or פ.ר (p.r). This family of roots shares the common concept of separation, just as a smaller group has separated from the larger, and a political party is a subdivision of the political system, separate from the whole.
 
Note that the English word party likewise comes from the word part.

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