: a Jew qualified to expound and apply the halacha and other Jewish law
3
: a Jew trained and ordained for professional religious leadership
specifically: the official leader of a Jewish congregation
Examples of rabbi in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Bell, meanwhile, costars with Adam Brody in Nobody Wants This; the series follows an American rabbi (Brody, 45) and an agnostic woman who embark on a romantic relationship despite the odds against them.—Tommy McArdle, PEOPLE, 15 Sep. 2025 Szames, his mother, brother, sister and a rabbi and his five children all hid there until Szames and his family were to move to another location with another family.—Ashley MacKin Solomon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Sep. 2025 Brody plays a hot rabbi who falls for Bell’s raunchy gentile podcaster, but their relationship could be doomed by their cultural differences in season two.—Tolly Wright, Vulture, 8 Sep. 2025 The Tennessean sat down with Schiftan, 65, who retired as senior rabbi from The Temple in Nashville, and Boehm, 85, who retired from Vanderbilt University Medical Center, to talk about their friendship and their project.—Brad Schmitt, The Tennessean, 28 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for rabbi
Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from Old English, from Late Latin, from Greek rhabbi, from Hebrew rabbī my master, from rabh master + -ī my
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Time Traveler
The first known use of rabbi was
before the 12th century
: a professionally trained leader of a Jewish congregation
rabbinic
rə-ˈbin-ik
ra-
adjective
or rabbinical
-i-kəl
Etymology
Old English rabbi "term of address used for Jewish religious leaders," from Latin rabbi (same meaning), from Greek rhabbi (same meaning), from Hebrew rabbī "my master," from rabh "master" and the suffix -ī "my"
Share