rabbi

noun

rab·​bi ˈra-ˌbī 

1

: master, teacher

—used by Jews as a term of address

2

: 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

Between the counterprotest and the attack two days later, the rabbi said, his group received a flood of reports — spread on social media and shared in WhatsApp group chats — of students being denied entry to classrooms and some people being threatened with tasers and other weapons. —Matthew Ormseth, Los Angeles Times, 10 May 2024

Relatives, acolytes, the local rabbi and a couple of neighbors — and, briefly, a bedraggled passing stranger who just might be you-know-who — mingle in the scruffy backyard of a nondescript house. —Christopher Smith, Orange County Register, 30 Apr. 2024

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

Kids Definition

rabbi

noun

rab·​bi ˈrab-ˌī 

1

: master entry 1 sense 1a, teacher

—used as a term of address for Jewish religious leaders

2

: 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"