Gemara

American  

[guh-mahr-uh, guh-mah-rah, guh-maw-ruh] / gəˈmɑr ə, gə mɑˈrɑ, gəˈmɔ rə /

noun

1. the section of the Talmud consisting essentially of commentary on the Mishnah.

2. the Talmud.

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Gemara British  

/ ɡɛˈmɔrə, ɡɛmaˈra /

noun

1. Judaism the main body of the Talmud, consisting of a record of ancient rabbinical debates about the interpretation of the Mishna and constituting the primary source of Jewish religious law See also Talmud

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Other Word Forms

• Gemaric adjective
• Gemarist noun

Etymology

Origin of Gemara

C17: from Aramaic gemārā completion, from gemār to complete

Example Sentences

The Gemara The Gemara, which in Aramaic means "to study and to know" is a collection of scholarly discussions on Jewish law dating from around 200 to 500AD.

From BBC • Oct. 29, 2013

The Gemara is written in Aramaic, and like the Mishnah lacks punctuation.

From BBC • Oct. 29, 2013

The Mishnah and Gemara combined constitute the Talmud as it is strictly understood.

From BBC • Oct. 29, 2013

Rashi Students generally look at this section after reading a few lines of the Mishnah and Gemara.

From BBC • Oct. 29, 2013

Similar evidence is furnished by the Mishna and the Gemara, the Targums, and lastly by the Greek version of Aquila,5 which dates from the first half of the 2nd century A.D.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Slice 7 "Bible" to "Bisectrix" by Various