חופשי

Hebrew

Root
ח־פ־שׁ (kh-p-sh)

Alternative forms

• חָפְשִׁי (defective spelling)

Adjective

חופשי / חָפְשִׁי • (khofshí) (feminine חופשית / חָפְשִׁית, masculine plural חופשים / חָפְשִׁים or חופשיים / חָפְשִׁיִּים, feminine plural חופשיות / חָפְשִׁיּוֹת)

1. free (not imprisoned)
   • Tanach, Exodus 21:2, with translation of the New International Version:

     כִּי תִקְנֶה עֶבֶד עִבְרִי, שֵׁשׁ שָׁנִים יַעֲבֹד; וּבַשְּׁבִעִת – יֵצֵא לַחָפְשִׁי, חִנָּם.

     If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything.

   • Tanach, Exodus 21:2, with translation of NKJV:

Usage notes

• The alternative feminine singular form חָפְשִׁיָּה (khofshiyá) is grammatical and also in use.
• According to the Academy of the Hebrew language words with a Qamatz Qaṭan or Ḥaṭaf Qamatz should not be spelled with vav (ו) when writing unpointed Hebrew text, unless it alternates with a Ḥolam in another form of the word.^[2] In informal Hebrew this rule is sometimes ignored since it is hard for speakers to differentiate between words pronounced with /o/ because of a qamatz and the rest.

Derived terms

• חופשי חודשי / חָפְשִׁי חָדְשִׁי (khofshí khodshí)

References

• H2670 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• “חפשי” in the Hebrew Terms Database of the Academy of Hebrew Language

Anagrams

• חיפוש