terefah

1 of 4

noun (1)

te·​re·​fah
variants or terefa or trefah or trefa
təˈrāfə
ˈtrā-
-(ˌ)fä
plural terefoth or terefot or trefoth or trefot
-(ˌ)fōt(h)
-fəs
1
: the meat of animals killed accidentally or by beasts of prey and forbidden to the Israelites as food
2
: a food, food product, or utensil that is not ritually clean or prepared according to Jewish law and is thus prohibited as unfit for Jewish use

terefah

2 of 4
variants or terefa

variant of tref:2

tref

3 of 4

noun (2)

ˈtrāv
plural trefi
-vē
: a homestead or hamlet under old Cymric law
usually : a group or area acting as a single community as regards cattle and plowing, constituting a taxable unit, and consisting typically of nine houses, one plow, one oven, one churn, one cat, one cock, and one herdsman

tref

4 of 4

adjective

ˈtrāf
variants or terefah or terefa
təˈrāfə
or trefah or trefa
ˈtrāfə
: ritually unclean or unfit according to Jewish law
opposed to kosher

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Hebrew ṭĕrēphāh, from ṭāraph to tear, rend

Noun (2)

Welsh, town, home, dwelling place, tref; akin to Cornish tref, tre dwelling place, town, Breton trev division of a parish, Old English thorp village

Adjective

Yiddish & Hebrew; Yiddish treyf, treyfe, from Hebrew ṭĕrēphāh animal torn by wild beasts, torn flesh

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Cite this Entry

“Terefah.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/terefah. Accessed 24 Jun. 2026.

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