חנות

Hebrew

Etymology

Root
ח־נ־ה (ḥ-n-h)

Borrowed from Aramaic חָנוּתָא (ḥānūṯā).

Pronunciation

• (Biblical Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ħaːˈnuːθ/
• (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /χaˈnut/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

חֲנוּת or חָנוּת • (khanút or ḥānūṯ) f (plural indefinite חנויות / חֲנֻיּוֹת, singular construct חֲנוּת־, plural construct חנויות / חֲנֻיּוֹת־)

1. (Biblical Hebrew) cell, vaulted chamber
   • Tanach, Jeremiah 37:16, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     כִּי בָא יִרְמְיָהוּ אֶל־בֵּית הַבּוֹר, וְאֶל־הַחֲנֻיּוֹת; וַיֵּשֶׁב־שָׁם יִרְמְיָהוּ, יָמִים רַבִּים.

     ki va yirməyáhu el-bēt habbór, vəel-haḥanuyyót; vayyéšev-šam yirməyáhu, yamím rabbím.

     When Jeremiah was come into the dungeon-house, and into the cells; and Jeremiah had remained there, many days.

2. store, a shop

Usage notes

• This noun frequently appears in its singular construct form, with a following noun to indicate the kind of store; hence, for example, חנות ספרים (khanút s'farím, “lit. store-of books, i.e. bookstore”).

See also

• שׁוּק (shuk, “market”)

References

• H2588 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Leslau, Wolf (1991) Comparative Dictionary of Geʿez (Classical Ethiopic), 2nd edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, →ISBN, page 238
• Wagner, Max (1966) Die lexikalischen und grammatikalischen Aramaismen im alttestamentlichen Hebräisch (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft; 96) (in German), Berlin: Alfred Töpelmann, →ISBN, page 56