הבל

Hebrew

Etymology

Root
ה־ב־ל (h-b-l)

Compare Arabic هبل.

Pronunciation

• (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ˈhevel/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

הֶבֶל • (hével) m [pattern: קֶטֶל]

1. steam, vapor
2. breath
3. foolishness, nonsense, absurdity

Related terms

• הֲבֵל הֲבָלִים (havél havalím)

Adverb

הֶבֶל • (hével) [pattern: קֶטֶל]

1. for nothing, uselessly

Proper noun

הֶבֶל • (hével) m [pattern: קֶטֶל]

1. (biblical) Abel (the son of Adam and Eve who was killed by his brother Cain)

Descendants

• → Ancient Greek: Ἅβελ (Hábel) (see there for further descendants)
• → Arabic: هَابِيل (hābīl)
  • → Ewe: Habel
• → Yiddish: הבל (hevl)

See also

• קַיִן (káyin)

References

• H1893 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• “הבל” in the Hebrew Terms Database of the Academy of Hebrew Language

Further reading

• הבל on the Hebrew Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^he

Anagrams

• להב

Yiddish

Etymology

From Hebrew הֶבֶל.

Proper noun

הבל • (hevl) m

1. Abel, the son of Adam.
2. vanity

   Synonym: גאװה (gayve)

Derived terms

• אַבֿל־אַבֿלים (vanity of vanities)

References

• Steven A. Jacobson (1998) A Guide to the More Common Hebraic Words in Yiddish, 5th edition, Fairbanks, AK: National Yiddish Book Center, →ISBN, page 52