dreidel

See also: Dreidel

English

WOTD – 10 December 2020

Etymology

A wooden dreidel (sense 1). The letters on the sides of the dreidel indicate actions to be taken in the game played with the top: נ (nun) (Yiddish נישט (nisht, “not”), meaning “nothing”), ג (gimel) (גאַנץ (gants, “entire, whole”)), ה (hey) (האַלב (halb, “half”)), and ש (shin) (שטעל אַרײַן (shtel arayn, “put in”)) (or פ (pey)). However, according to folk etymology, the letters represent the Hebrew phrase נֵס גָּדוֹל הָיָה שָׁם (nes gadól hayá sham, “a great miracle happened there”) or נֵס גָּדוֹל הָיָה פֹּה (nes gadól hayá po, “a great miracle happened here”), referring to the miracle of the cruse of oil.

Borrowed from Yiddish דריידל (dreydl, “dreidel; spinning top”), probably a blend of דרייען (dreyen, “to spin; to turn; to twist”) +‎ טרענדל (trendl, “(dated) dreidel; spinning top”). דרייען (dreyen) is derived from Old High German drāen (“to turn; to twist”), from Proto-Germanic *þrēaną (“to turn; to twist”), from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to turn; to rub; to drill, pierce”); and טרענדל (trendl) is derived from Middle High German trendel (“spinning top”), from Proto-Germanic *trandijaną (“to revolve, spin”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɹeɪdl̩/

• Audio (GA):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪdəl
• Hyphenation: drei‧del

Noun

dreidel (plural dreidels)

1. A four-sided spinning top, inscribed with the four Hebrew letters נ (nun), ג (gimel), ה (hey), and ש (shin) (or פ (pey)) on each side, often used to play a traditional game during the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.
   • 1927, “I Have a Little Dreidel”, Samuel S. Grossman (lyrics), Samuel Eliezer Goldfarb or Mikhl Gelbart (music):

     I have a little dreidel. I made it out of clay. / And when it's dry and ready, then dreidel I shall play. / Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, I made it out of clay. / Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, then dreidel I shall play.

2. A gambling game played using this top.

Alternative forms

• draydel, dreydel
• draydl, dreidl, dreydl
• dreidle, dreydle

Translations

four-sided spinning top

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 光明節陀螺／光明节陀螺, 光明节陀螺 (guāngmíngjié tuóluó)

• Finnish: hyrrä (fi)
• French: dreydel, sevivon (fr)
• German: Dreidel (de) m
• Hebrew: סְבִיבוֹן (he) m (s'vivón)
• Hungarian: trenderli (hu)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: dreidel, sevivon
• Polish: drejdel (pl) m
• Portuguese: dreidel
• Russian: дрейдл (drejdl)
• Spanish: dreidel
• Swedish: dreidel
• Welsh: dreidl m
• Yiddish: דריידל (dreydl)

gambling game played using this top

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

See also

• teetotum

Further reading

• dreidel on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• dreidle, riddlee

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Portuguese

Noun

dreidel m (plural dreidels)

1. dreidel (four-sided spinning top with Hebrew letters)