tefillin

or te·phil·lin

[ Ashkenazic Hebrew, English tuh-fil-in; Sephardic Hebrew tuh-fee-leen ]

plural noun

, Judaism.

1. the phylacteries.

Word History and Origins

Origin of tefillin¹

1605–15; < Hebrew təphillīn, akin to təphillāh prayer

Example Sentences

The video also showed Catholic iconography, an evangelical Christian service and a Jewish worshipper with a tefillin.

From Seattle Times

Turns out he was there to conduct a tefillin ceremony.

From Salon

Rising on Friday to shared meals and coffee, the protesters dismantled their tents as others prayed with their arms wrapped in tefillin before they all began marching again towards Jerusalem and the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.

From Seattle Times

The former ultra-Orthodox Jew is wearing a white prayer shawl and tefillin - long leather straps with small boxes attached, containing scrolls with verses from the Torah.

From BBC

I stared at it as I went through my morning routine—washing my hands, putting on tallis and tefillin and davening.

From Literature