Shavuoth

or Sha·vu·ot, Sha·vu·os, Sha·bu·oth, Sha·bu·ot

[ Sephardic Hebrew shah-voo-awt; Ashkenazic Hebrew shuh-voo-ohs, -uhs ]

noun

, Judaism.

1. a festival, celebrated on the sixth and seventh days of Sivan by Orthodox and Conservative Jews outside Israel but only on the sixth day by Reform Jews and Jews in Israel, that commemorates God's giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Shavuoth¹

First recorded in 1890–95, Shavuoth is from the Hebrew word Shābhūʿōth literally, weeks