צרה

Hebrew

Etymology 1

Adjective

צָרָה • (tsará)

1. feminine singular of צר‎

Noun

צָרָה • (tsará) f (plural indefinite צָרוֹת‎) [pattern: קַטְלָה]

1. tragedy, trouble, misfortune, distress

Noun

צָרָה • (tsará) f (plural indefinite צָרוֹת‎, masculine counterpart צָר‎) [pattern: קַטְלָה]

1. female equivalent of צר‎: enemy

Etymology 2

From Proto-Semitic *ṣ́arrat- (“co-wife”). Cognate with Akkadian 𒁮𒋰𒁀 (ṣerretum) and Arabic ضَرَّة‎ (ḍarra).

Noun

צָרָה • (tsará) f (plural indefinite צָרוֹת‎) [pattern: קַטְלָה]

1. co-wife, rival-wife, vexer
   • a. 217 C.E., Mishnah, Yevamot 1:1:

     ‏חָמֵשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה נָשִׁים פּוֹטְרוֹת צָרוֹתֵיהֶן וְצָרוֹת צָרוֹתֵיהֶן מִן הַחֲלִיצָה וּמִן הַיִּבּוּם עַד סוֹף הָעוֹלָם.‎‎

     Fifteen [types of] women exempt their co-wives and the co-wives of their co-wives, [and so on] until the end of time, from chalitzah and from yibbum.

Descendants

• → Aramaic: צָרָא‎ (ṣārā, “co-wife”)

References

• H6869 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible

Anagrams

• צהר‎, רצה‎

Yiddish

Alternative forms

• צאָרע‎ (tsore) – Soviet phonetic spelling

Etymology

From Hebrew צָרָה‎ (tsará).

Noun

צרה • (tsore) f, plural צרות‎ (tsores)

1. tragedy, trouble, misfortune, distress

Derived terms

• צרהדיק‎ (tsoredik), צרותדיק‎ (tsoresdik)
• פֿאַרצרהט‎ (fartsoret)
• אָנטאָן צרות‎ (onton tsores)

Related terms

• צורר‎ (tsoyrer)

Descendants

From the plural צרות‎ (tsores):

• → Dutch: sores
• → English: tsuris
• → German: Zores
• → Hungarian: córesz