נשמה

Hebrew

FWOTD – 28 January 2017

Etymology 1

Root
נ־שׁ־ם (n-š-m)

From the root נ־שׁ־ם probably related to Arabic ن_س_م

Pronunciation

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

Noun

נְשָׁמָה • (neshamá) f (plural indefinite נְשָׁמוֹת, singular construct נִשְׁמַת־, plural construct נִשְׁמוֹת־)

1. (biblical) breath
2. soul, spirit
   • Modeh Ani

     מוֹדֶה אֲנִי לְפָנֶיךָ מֶלֶךְ חַי וְקַיָּם. שֶׁהֶחֱזַרְתָּ בִּי נִשְׁמָתִי בְּחֶמְלָה. רַבָּה אֱמוּנָתֶךָ׃

     modé 'aní l'fanékha mélekh kháy v'kayám; shehekhezárta bí nish'matí b'khemlá; rabá 'emunatékha.
     mōḏe ʾănī ləp̄ānéḵā méleḵ ḥay wəqayyām; šeheḥĕzártā bī nišəmāṯī bəḥemlā; rabbā ʾĕmūnāṯéḵā.

     I offer thanks to You, living and eternal King, for You have mercifully restored my soul within me; Your faithfulness is great.

3. (flowery) essence, gist
4. (colloquial, chiefly Sephardic) darling

   כפרה עלייך נשמה שלי!

   kapára aláyikh neshamá shelí!

   Bless your soul, my darling!

Declension

Declension of נְשָׁמָה

Number	Isolated forms		With possessive pronouns
	State	Form	Person	singular		plural
				m.	f.	m.	f.
singular	indefinite	נְשָׁמָה	first	נִשְׁמָתִי		נִשְׁמָתֵנוּ
	definite	הַנְּשָׁמָה	second	נִשְׁמָתְךָ	נִשְׁמָתֵךְ	נִשְׁמַתְכֶם	נִשְׁמַתְכֶן
	construct	נִשְׁמַת־	third	נִשְׁמָתוֹ	נִשְׁמָתָהּ	נִשְׁמָתָם	נִשְׁמָתָן
plural	indefinite	נְשָׁמוֹת	first	נשמותיי / נִשְׁמוֹתַי		נִשְׁמוֹתֵינוּ
	definite	הַנְּשָׁמוֹת	second	נִשְׁמוֹתֶיךָ	נשמותייך / נִשְׁמוֹתַיִךְ	נִשְׁמוֹתֵיכֶם	נִשְׁמוֹתֵיכֶן
	construct	נִשְׁמוֹת־	third	נִשְׁמוֹתָיו	נִשְׁמוֹתֶיהָ	נִשְׁמוֹתָם	נִשְׁמוֹתָן

Descendants

• Yiddish: נשמה (neshome), נעשאָמע (neshome)
  • → Dutch: nesjomme

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

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

Verb

נָשְׁמָה • (nash'má)

1. third-person feminine singular past (suffix conjugation) of נשם (nashám)

References

• H5397 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible

Anagrams

• מנשה, משנה

Yiddish

Alternative forms

• נעשאָמע (neshome) — Soviet phonetic spelling

Etymology

From Hebrew נְשָׁמָה (neshamá).

Pronunciation

• (YIVO, Litvish) IPA^(key): /nəˈʃɔmə/
• (Poylish) IPA^(key): /nəˈʃuːmə/
• (Ukrainish) IPA^(key): /nəˈʃumə/
• (Netherlandic) IPA^(key): /nəˈʃoːmə/

Noun

נשמה • (neshome) f, plural נשמות (neshomes)

1. soul

   Synonym: נפֿש (nefesh)

Derived terms

• נשמהדיק (neshomedik)
• נשמה יתירה (neshome yeseyre)

Descendants

• → Dutch: nesjomme