סביבון

Hebrew

Etymology

Root
ס־ב־ב (s-b-b)
15 terms

Late 19th century: from סְבִיב (s'viv) +‎ ־וֹן (-ón). It is disputed who coined the word: it was either Coined by Itamar Ben-Avi (the son of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda) at the age of five (i.e. 1887), who writes in his memoir that he remembers one day jumping to his mother and telling her that he found a סביבון (s'vivón, “dreidel”), or the writer and journalist David Yeshayahu Silberbusch who published the word in an 1897 list for Ha-Tsefirah.

Many other names were suggested but didn't catch, including כִּרְכָּר by Bialik, חֲזַרְזָר by Mendele Mocher Sforim, סוֹבֶבֶת, פַּרְפָּרָה, מִגְדַּל עֹז, גַּלְגְּלָן and more.

Pronunciation

• (Modern Israeli) IPA^(key): /seviˈvon/

Noun

סְבִיבוֹן • (s'vivón) m (plural indefinite סְבִיבוֹנִים, singular construct סביבון־)

1. A spinning top.
2. A Hanukkah dreidel.

Declension

Declension of סְבִיבוֹן

	isolated forms		with possessive pronouns
Number:	State:	form	Person:	singular		plural
				m	f	m	f
singular	indefinite	סְבִיבוֹן	first	סְבִיבוֹנִי		סְבִיבוֹנֵנוּ
	definite	הַסְּבִיבוֹן	second	סְבִיבוֹנְךָ	סְבִיבוֹנֵךְ	סְבִיבוֹנְכֶם	סְבִיבוֹנְכֶן
	construct	סְבִיבוֹן־	third	סְבִיבוֹנוֹ	סְבִיבוֹנָהּ	סְבִיבוֹנָם	סְבִיבוֹנָן
plural	indefinite	סְבִיבוֹנִים	first	סביבוניי / סְבִיבוֹנַי		סְבִיבוֹנֵינוּ
	definite	הַסְּבִיבוֹנִים	second	סְבִיבוֹנֶיךָ	סביבונייך / סְבִיבוֹנַיִךְ	סְבִיבוֹנֵיכֶם	סְבִיבוֹנֵיכֶן
	construct	סְבִיבוֹנֵי־	third	סְבִיבוֹנָיו	סְבִיבוֹנֶיהָ	סְבִיבוֹנֵיהֶם	סְבִיבוֹנֵיהֶן

References

• “סביבון” in the Hebrew Terms Database of the Academy of Hebrew Language
• "סביבון" in the Noun Declension Tables of the Academy of Hebrew Language

Further reading

• סביבון on the Hebrew Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^he