בצל

Hebrew

בצלי גינה

Etymology

Root
ב־צ־ל (b-ts-l)
1 term

Cognate with Arabic بَصَل (baṣal) and related to Aramaic בּוּצְלָא. Possibly derived from a variation of the verb פיצל / פִּצֵּל (pitsél, “to peel”); see Aramaic where both בְּצַל and פְּצַל are extant.

Pronunciation

• (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /baˈt͡sal/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al

Noun

בָּצָל • (batsál) m (plural indefinite בְּצָלִים, singular construct בְּצַל־, plural construct בִּצְלֵי־) [pattern: קָטָל]

1. onion
   • Tanach, Numbers 11:5, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     זָכַרְנוּ אֶת־הַדָּגָה אֲשֶׁר־נֹאכַל בְּמִצְרַיִם חִנָּם אֵת הַקִּשֻּׁאִים וְאֵת הָאֲבַטִּחִים וְאֶת־הֶחָצִיר וְאֶת־הַבְּצָלִים וְאֶת־הַשּׁוּמִים׃

     We remember the fish, which we were wont to eat in Egypt for nought; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic;

2. (figuratively) bulb

Synonyms

• (onion): בצל הגינה / בְּצַל הַגִּנָּה (“domestic onion”, literally “garden onion”)

References

• H1211 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Klein, Ernest (1987) “בָּצָל”, in A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English‎^[1], Jerusalem: Carta, →ISBN, page 80a
• Jastrow, Marcus (1903) A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature‎^[2], London, New York: Luzac & Co., G.P. Putnam's Sons, page 184b
• “בצל” in the Hebrew Terms Database of the Academy of Hebrew Language