Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The anniversary of the death of a relative, observed with mourning and the recitation of religious texts.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Yiddish, anniversary, from Middle High German jārzīt : jār, year (from Old High German; see yēr- in Indo-European roots) + zīt, time (from Old High German; see dā- in Indo-European roots).]

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Examples

  • Anyone who has watched the last 5 or so minutes of CSI: NY this past Wednesday - an episode titled "Yahrzeit" - should know what I'm talking about.

    TiVo Community 2009

  • Anyone who has watched the last 5 or so minutes of CSI: NY this past Wednesday - an episode titled "Yahrzeit" - should know what I'm talking about.

    TiVo Community JLucPicard 2009

  • "I have 'Yahrzeit' for my mother," explained Jo Lewis, glancing toward the taper after greeting his visitors.

    Other Things Being Equal Emma Wolf 1898

  • We light a Yahrzeit candle on the anniversary of her death every year.

    History of a Suicide Jill Bialosky 2011

  • We light a Yahrzeit candle on the anniversary of her death every year.

    History of a Suicide Jill Bialosky 2011

  • Yet here in Israel, with my parents long gone and no known Yahrzeit date for any of my four grandparents murdered in the death camps, I find myself year after year yearning to mark the day in some meaningful way.

    Holocaust Remembrance Day: Enough Ceremony 2009

  • But she lights the Yahrzeit candle for her mother because she saw her mother lighting the candle for her mother.

    Esther Dischereit. 2009

  • Her Yiddish records “Eli, Eli” (which was also popularized by Belle Baker) and “Yahrzeit” sold for $1.75 each in 1921.

    Sophie Braslau. 2009

  • In the years between our births, there were at least three miscarriages and one heartbreakingly stillborn baby boy that my mother still lights a Yahrzeit candle for every year.

    Balancing in High Heels Eileen Rendahl 2004

  • In the years between our births, there were at least three miscarriages and one heartbreakingly stillborn baby boy that my mother still lights a Yahrzeit candle for every year.

    Balancing in High Heels Eileen Rendahl 2004

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