מוהל

Hebrew

Etymology 1

Root
מ־ה־ל (m-h-l)
5 terms

Present participle of מָהַל (mahál, “to cirumcise”). First appearing in Tosefta Berakhot 6:12 (according to the Lieberman edition) during late antiquity. The choice to use the participle of מָהַל rather than מָל is likely due to Aramaic influence, where מְהַל is more commonly used for circumcision.

Pronunciation

• (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /moˈ(h)el/

Noun

מוֹהֵל • (mohél) m (plural indefinite מוֹהֲלִים, singular construct מוֹהֵל־, plural construct מוֹהֲלֵי־, feminine counterpart מוֹהֶלֶת)

1. (Judaism) mohel (male)
   • a. 230 C.E., Tosefta. Berachot, section 6.12:

     הַמּוֹהֵל צָרִיךְ בְּרָכָה לְעַצְמוֹ. אוֹ׳ בָּרוּךְ עַל הַמִּילָה.

     The Mohel must make a blessing himself. He says, "Baruch [...] Al HaMilah."

Derived terms

• → Yiddish: מוהל (moyel)
  • → English: mohel

Etymology 2

Root
נ־ח־ל (n-kh-l)
7 terms

Cognate to Classical Syriac ܡܚܠܬܐ (maḥḥalṯā, “sieve”), Arabic مِنْخَل (minḵal, “sieve”).

Alternative forms

• מוֹחַל (moḥal)

Noun

מוֹהַל • (mohál) m

1. (Mishnaic Hebrew) sieve, searce

References

• Fleischer, Heinrich (1883) “Nachträgliches”, in Neuhebräisches und Chaldäisches Wörterbuch über die Talmudim und Midraschim (in German), Leipzig: Verlag von Baumgärtners Buchhandlung, page 305b to Levy, Jacob (1883) Neuhebräisches und Chaldäisches Wörterbuch über die Talmudim und Midraschim (in German), Leipzig: Verlag von Baumgärtners Buchhandlung, page 39a
• Löw, Immanuel (1928) Die Flora der Juden‎^[1] (in German), volume 1, Wien und Leipzig: R. Löwit, pages 137–138

Yiddish

Etymology

Borrowed from Hebrew מוֹהֵל (mohél).

Noun

מוהל • (moyel) m, plural מוהלים (moyelim)

1. mohel, circumcisor

Derived terms

• → English: mohel