Yahrzeit

Pronunciation

• US IPA: /ˈjɑɹ.tsaɪt/
• RP IPA: /ˈjɑː.tsaɪt/

Alternative forms

• jahrzeit
• yartzeit
• yartseit
• yortseit
• yortsayt
• yahrtzeit

Origin

From Yiddish יאָרצײַט. Cognate to German Jahreszeit ("season"), which heavily influenced the spelling and pronunciation once the word was borrowed into English.

Full definition of yahrzeit

Noun

1. (Judaism) The anniversary of a person's death, often of a parent's.
• 2002, , Leon Wieseltier, , The yahrzeit is here, and the least lachrymose country on earth is devising its rituals of commemoration.