Mishnah

or Mish·na

[ English, Ashkenazic Hebrew mish-nuh; Sephardic Hebrew meesh-nah ]

noun

, Judaism.

, plural Mish·na·yoth, Mish·na·yot, Mish·na·yos [mish-n, uh, -, yohs, meesh-nah-, yawt], English Mish·nahs.

1. the collection of oral laws compiled about a.d. 200 by Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi and forming the basic part of the Talmud.
2. an article or section of this collection.

Other Words From

• Mish·na·ic [mish-, ney, -ik], Mishnic Mishni·cal adjective
• post-Mish·naic adjective
• post-Mishnic adjective
• post-Mishni·cal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of Mishnah¹

First recorded in 1600–10, Mishnah is from the Medieval Hebrew word mishnāh literally, teaching by oral repetition

Example Sentences

Lander took his oath of office on a 500-year-old fragment of the Mishnah, an ancient Jewish text documenting oral traditions and laws.

From Seattle Times

Most of the younger attendees had spent the past month learning pieces of the Mishnah, a collection of Jewish oral traditions, in memory of Meyers.

From Washington Post

A low glass cabinet contained the full Mishnah.

From The New Yorker

I finished the explanation of the Mishnaic text and read the next thought unit, which consisted of another Mishnah found in a different tractate from the one we were now studying.

From Literature

Many more of the elements of today’s Seder are found in the Mishnah and the Talmud , and the evolution of the holiday meal is usually seen as a natural and purely Jewish process.

From Washington Post