shema
noun
Simple meaning
A liturgical prayer that is recited at least twice daily by adult Jewish males to declare their faith.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
shihmuhSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ʃɪˈmʌ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A liturgical prayer (considered to be the essence of Jewish religion) that is recited at least twice daily by adult Jewish males to declare their faith
“As soon as Leonard learned to talk he was taught to recite the first words of the Shema, the creed of Judaism which originated on Sinai with Moses and is recited daily.”
The central declaration of faith of Judaism, recited at least twice daily by religious Jews.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
This meaning: A liturgical prayer (considered to be the essence of Jewish religion) that is recited at least twice daily by adult Jewish males to declare their faith
Used this way, shema is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a religious use: it carries the weight of tradition and ceremony.
“As soon as Leonard learned to talk he was taught to recite the first words of the Shema, the creed of Judaism which originated on Sinai with Moses and is recited daily.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Religion/spirituality
- Historical writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use shema
- “As soon as Leonard learned to talk he was taught to recite the first words of the Shema, the creed of Judaism which originated on Sinai with Moses and is recited daily.”noun
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.