how to say “sharp” in Hebrew
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Yesterday we saw the Hebrew word for stapler. Another item that might rest on your desk is a pencil sharpener – מְחַדֵּד עֶפְרוֹנוֹת (meh-khah-DED ef-roh-NOHT), literally, a sharpener of pencils, where מחדד means sharpener.
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| by Rilind Hoxha |
מחדד comes from the root ח.ד.ד (kh.d.d), meaning sharp. The proper word to describe a sharp object is חַד (khahd) for something masculine such as עִפָּרוֹן (ee-pah-ROHN), a pencil, and חַדָּה (khah-DAH) for something feminine, such as סַכִּין (sah-KEEN), a knife.
The root seems to make an appearance in the Torah portion to be read tomorrow by Jews around the world, in the phrase וַיִּחַדְּ יִתְרו (vah-yee-KHAHD yeet-ROH) – and Yitro rejoiced. I say seems, because despite the Midrashic reading, that Yitro’s skin became “sharp” in goosebumps, the word is more likely related to one of the terms for joy, חֶדְוָה (khed-VAH).
שבת שלום, וסוף שבוע נעים לכולם!
Shabbat Shalom, and a pleasant weekend to all!