yeshiva

noun

ye·​shi·​va yə-ˈshē-və How to pronounce yeshiva (audio)
variants or less commonly yeshivah
plural yeshivas or yeshivot yə-ˌshē-ˈvōt How to pronounce yeshiva (audio)
-ˈvōth
1
: a school for talmudic study
2
: an Orthodox Jewish rabbinical seminary
3
: a Jewish day school providing secular and religious instruction

Examples of yeshiva 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.
Prosecutors had tried pointing to two cases – the 1994 shooting of a van full of Hasidic yeshiva students on the Brooklyn Bridge, and the 1997 shooting from the observation deck of the Empire State Building – as terroristic acts that ended with just one deceased victim. Dakin Andone, CNN Money, 16 Sep. 2025 The Nisanov’s are prominent members of the Queens’ Bukharian Jewish community, and Rachel spent all of her schooling years at Bnos Malka Academy, an all-girls yeshiva in Forest Hills, the Miami Herald reported. Emma Seiwell, New York Daily News, 17 Aug. 2025 Both girls attended Bnos Malka Academy, an all-girls yeshiva in Forest Hills about two and a half miles from the family’s Kew Gardens Hill home. David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 13 Aug. 2025 On June 30, 2014, the bodies of three yeshiva boys kidnapped by Hamas were discovered — and a 50-day war followed. Grace Gilson, Sun Sentinel, 2 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for yeshiva

Word History

Etymology

Late Hebrew yĕshībhāh

First Known Use

1760, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of yeshiva was in 1760

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Cite this Entry

“Yeshiva.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/yeshiva. Accessed 21 Sep. 2025.

Kids Definition

yeshiva

noun
ye·​shi·​va
variants also yeshivah
plural yeshivas or yeshivot -ˌshē-ˈvōt(h) How to pronounce yeshiva (audio)
: a Jewish school especially for religious instruction

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