Shibboleth

Shibboleth
   River, or an ear of corn. The tribes living on the east of Jordan, separated from their brethren on the west by the deep ravines and the rapid river, gradually came to adopt peculiar customs, and from mixing largely with the Moabites, Ishmaelites, and Ammonites to pronounce certain letters in such a manner as to distinguish them from the other tribes. Thus when the Ephraimites from the west invaded Gilead, and were defeated by the Gileadites under the leadership of Jephthah, and tried to escape by the "passages of the Jordan," the Gileadites seized the fords and would allow none to pass who could not pronounce "shibboleth" with a strong aspirate. This the fugitives were unable to do. They said "sibboleth," as the word was pronounced by the tribes on the west, and thus they were detected (Judg. 12:1-6). Forty-two thousand were thus detected, and
   "Without reprieve, adjudged to death, For want of well-pronouncing shibboleth."

Easton's Bible Dictionary. . 1897.

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  • Shibboleth — (IPAEng|ˈʃɪbəlɛθcite encyclopedia|ency=Oxford English Dictionary|edition=second|year=1989|article=shibboleth] or IPAEng|ˈʃɪbələθcite web|work=Merriam Webster Online Dictionary |title=shibboleth |url=http://m w.com/dictionary/shibboleth] ) is any… …   Wikipedia

  • Shibboleth — se refiere a cualquier uso de la lengua indicativo del origen social o regional de una persona, y de forma más amplia cualquier práctica que identifique a los miembros de un grupo, una especie de santo y seña. Etimología Su origen es la palabra… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Shibboleth — Shib bo*leth, n. [Heb. shibb[=o]leth an ear of corn, or a stream, a flood.] 1. A word which was made the criterion by which to distinguish the Ephraimites from the Gileadites. The Ephraimites, not being able to pronounce sh, called the word… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • shibboleth — late 14c., the Hebrew word shibboleth flood, stream, also ear of corn, in Judges xii:4 6. It was the password used by the Gileadites to distinguish their own men from fleeing Ephraimites, because Ephraimites could not pronounce the sh sound.… …   Etymology dictionary

  • shibboleth — The primary meaning in current English is ‘a custom or phrase that distinguishes a particular class or group of people’, either one approved of or one deprecated in others • (Apparently, to wear a hat in the cafeteria was a student shibboleth I.… …   Modern English usage

  • shibboleth — index catchword Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • shibboleth — *catchword, byword, slogan …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • shibboleth — ► NOUN ▪ a custom, principle, or belief distinguishing a particular class or group of people. ORIGIN originally in the sense «a word or sound which a foreigner is unable to pronounce»: from Hebrew, ear of corn (according to the Book of Judges,… …   English terms dictionary

  • shibboleth — [shib′ə leth΄, shib′ələth] n. [ME sebolech, after LL(Ec) sciboleth < Heb shibolet, a stream: pres. meaning from the use of the word as a test word] 1. the test word used by the men of Gilead to distinguish the escaping Ephraimites, who… …   English World dictionary

  • Shibboleth — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Shibboleth (homonymie). Un shibboleth (ou schibboleth (שבולת en hébreu, prononcé [ʃibɔ …   Wikipédia en Français

  • shibboleth — noun Etymology: Hebrew shibbōleth stream; from the use of this word in Judges 12:6 as a test to distinguish Gileadites from Ephraimites Date: 1638 1. a. a word or saying used by adherents of a party, sect, or belief and usually regarded by others …   New Collegiate Dictionary

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