Definitions

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

  • noun The 15th letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The fifteenth letter of many Semitic alphabets/abjads (Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic and others).

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the 15th letter of the Hebrew alphabet

Etymologies

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

[Hebrew sāmek, of Phoenician origin; see smk in Semitic roots.]

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Examples

  • The Rabbis object, noting that the letter samekh appears in the Torah before this, in Gen. 2: 11, 13: “the one that winds through [ha-sovev]”; the answer given is that verses 11 and 13 speak of the creation of the rivers, and not that of the human race (Gen. Rabbah 17: 6).

    Eve: Midrash and Aggadah. 2009

  • The appearance of the letter samekh before this verse merely emphasizes the negative tendentiousness of this teaching.

    Eve: Midrash and Aggadah. 2009

  • This teaches that when Eve was created, Satan was created with her (as is alluded by the letter samekh or sin).

    Eve: Midrash and Aggadah. 2009

  • A completely different approach is expressed in the midrash that observes that the letter samekh does not appear from the beginning of Genesis until the creation of Eve, until Gen. 2: 21, which states: “and closed up [va-yisgor] the flesh at that spot.”

    Eve: Midrash and Aggadah. 2009

  • No two letters are identical, with the exception of 'sin' and 'samekh'.

    Esser Agaroth 2008

  • 'ayins and hehs ... not to mention confusing totally dissimilar letters ... not as we the Ashkenazim pronounce the undotted tauw (tav) as a samekh, to our shame.

    Esser Agaroth 2008

  • But those who used the Hebrew alphabet had a rather primitive tool at their disposal, namely the letters samekh (for s) and shin (for sh

    OUPblog 2008

  • But those who used the Hebrew alphabet had a rather primitive tool at their disposal, namely the letters samekh (for s) and shin (for sh

    OUPblog 2008

  • But those who used the Hebrew alphabet had a rather primitive tool at their disposal, namely the letters samekh (for s) and shin (for sh

    OUPblog 2008

  • But those who used the Hebrew alphabet had a rather primitive tool at their disposal, namely the letters samekh (for s) and shin (for sh

    OUPblog 2008

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