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בעל

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Hebrew

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Etymology 1

More information Root ...

From Proto-Semitic *baʕl-.

Pronunciation

Noun

בַּעַל • (bá'al) m (plural indefinite בְּעָלִים, singular construct בַּעַל־, plural construct בַּעֲלֵי־, feminine counterpart בַּעֲלָה) [pattern: קֶטֶל]

  1. master, owner
  2. husband (a man in a marriage or marital relationship, especially in relation to his spouse)
Synonyms

Noun

בְּעָל • (bə'al) m

  1. lord, idol
Usage notes
  • To avoid any ambiguity or hint of sexism, many modern speakers keep the two senses of בעל strictly distinct as follows:
    • When בעל has the sense of husband, it is inflected to indicate a possessor. In the case that its possessor is not a personal pronoun, this produces some redundancy; for example, "Miriam's husband" is translated as בעלה של מרים (ba'aláh shel Miryam), which literally means "her-husband of Miriam". (This sort of construction can occur with other nouns as well, but usually only in more formal contexts.)
    • When בעל has the sense of owner, it is seldom so inflected.
  • However, some speakers do consider it sexist to use בעל with the sense of husband at all, instead preferring the word איש ('ish, “man”), as it is more directly analogous to the word אישה ('isháh, “woman, wife”).
Declension
More information isolated forms, with possessive pronouns ...
Derived terms
Descendants
  • → Yiddish: בעל־הבית (balebos)
    • → Dutch: bollebof, bolleboos
    • → English: balebos
  • Ladino: balabay
See also

Proper noun

בַּעַל • (bá'al) m [pattern: קֶטֶל]

  1. Baal (Canaanite deity)
Descendants

Adjective

בַּעַל • (bá'al) m (plural indefinite בַּעַלִים, plural construct בַּעַלֵי־, feminine counterpart בַּעַלָה)

  1. (only in construct form) having, possessing, (endowed) with [with nomen rectum (called סומך (somékh) in Hebrew)]
    שני האנשים בעלי תואר מצאו עבודה.
    shnei ha'anashím ba'aléi toár mats'ú avodá.
    The two men with degrees found work.
Usage notes
  • This word can only be used as an adjective in the construct state—סמיכות (smikhút) in Hebrew—where בעל (bá'al) is the inflected נסמך (nismákh) and is followed by another noun, the סומך (somékh) (also known to linguistics in general as the nomen rectum). Together, and following another noun, this construct can thus function as an adjective with the meaning of "having/possessing/(endowed) with noun", where noun is the second part of the construction, the סומך (somékh) or nomen rectum. For an example of how this works, see the usage example provided above.
  • Unlike standard Hebrew adjectives, בעל (bá'al) in such constructs is not declined in the same simple way, according to only the grammatical gender and number of the noun it modifies, nor does it carry its definiteness. Rather, בעל (bá'al) in such usage never receives a definite article, even when modifying a definite noun, and it is always inflected in the construct form unique to Hebrew nouns, with the grammatical gender and number of the noun it modifies. The usage example provided above shows use with a masculine plural definite noun, to elucidate these important differences. In this example, the word בעל (bá'al) carries the grammatical gender and number of the noun it modifies, אנשים (anashím), but it is inflected in the construct form and has not inherited the definite article of האנשים.

Etymology 2

More information Root ...

Verbal form related to the above noun.

Pronunciation

Verb

בָּעַל • (ba'ál) (pa'al construction)

  1. (dated) to have sexual intercourse
Conjugation
More information non-finite forms, to-infinitive ...

1 Pronounced בָּעַלְתֶּם and בָּעַלְתֶּן in informal Modern Hebrew.
2 Rare in Modern Hebrew.

References

Anagrams

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Yiddish

Etymology

Borrowed from Hebrew בַּעַל (báʿal), singular construct form of Hebrew בַּעַל (báʿal, “master, owner”).

Pronunciation

Noun

בעל • (bal) m, plural בעלי (bale)

  1. Used to create compounds with Hebrew-origin nouns to create nouns referring to a person related to the noun

Usage notes

Compounds made with this word can be pluralized in different ways, typically either pluralizing בעל (bal) to בעלי (bale), adding a plural suffix to the second word in the compound, or both at once. Occasionally there are multiple correct ways to pluralize the compounds.

Feminine forms are almost always formed with the suffix ־טע (-te) added to the singular form.

Derived terms

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