tallith

or tal·lit, tal·lis

[ Ashkenazic Hebrew, English tah-lis; Sephardic Hebrew tah-leet ]

noun

, Judaism.

, plural tal·li·thim, tal·li·tim, tal·li·sim [tah-, lee, -sim, -, ley, -, tah-l, uh, -, sim, tah-lee-, teem].

1. a shawllike garment of wool, silk, or the like, with fringes, or zizith, at the four corners, worn around the shoulders by Orthodox and Conservative (sometimes also Reform) Jews, as during the morning service.

Word History and Origins

Origin of tallith¹

First recorded in 1605–15, tallith is from the Hebrew word ṭallīth literally, cover, cloak

Example Sentences

That’s been on the TV too: raids at night, secret hoards of Jewish things dragged out from under beds, torahs, talliths, Magen Davids.

From Literature

A tallith of silk of the same color was bound with a silver cord about his forehead.

From Project Gutenberg

One morning I put on my phylacteries and tallith in order to perform the prescribed prayers, but I could not utter a single sentence out of the prayer book before me.

From Project Gutenberg

As both phylacteries and tallith came into use at the divine service in connection with the recital of the Shema and the chapter on the zizith, the symbols assumed a higher meaning.

From Project Gutenberg

She saw him go down in his working clothes; she did not know that he had hidden the tallith under his apron.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• cloth
• scarf
• stole