yahrzeitn.
/ˈjɑːtsʌɪt/, /ˈjɔːtsʌɪt/, U.S. /ˈjɑrˌtsaɪt/, /ˈjɔrˌtsaɪt/ Judaism.
In Jewish tradition: the anniversary of the death of a parent or other close relative, marked by the burning of a memorial candle, the recitation of the Mourner's Kaddish (Kaddish n.) and, in some communities, by fasting, religious study, and charitable works.The date of the death and its commemoration are traditionally reckoned according to the Hebrew rather than the Gregorian calendar.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > obsequies > commemorative ceremonies > [noun] > Jewish > anniversary
yahrzeit1784
the world > life > death > obsequies > commemorative ceremonies > [adjective] > relating to Jewish anniversary
yahrzeit1917
1784 D. Hays Let. 22 Sept. in Publ. Amer. Jewish Hist. Soc. (1894) 2 269 I..wish you a good fast Shabos; also Monday is yorsite for Mother.
1852 Asmonean 10 Dec. 91/1 Men, who..when they have Yahrzeit, will go to congregational meetings, and oppose most violently every reform measure.
1876 ‘G. Eliot’ Daniel Deronda II. iv. xxxiv. 359 ‘Your mother has been a widow a long while, perhaps.’..‘Ay, ay, it's a good many yore-zeit since I had to manage for her and myself,’ said Cohen.
1881 Fraser's Mag. Apr. 496 On the Jahrzeit Maier takes the boy to the synagogue.
1917 E. Ferber Fanny Herself 200 There would be no Yahrzeit light burning for twenty-four hours.
1964 W. Markfield To Early Grave (1965) x. 177 They buried my brother-in-law... In two and a half weeks, God spare us, he'll have his yahrzeit.
2002 Independent 15 June 21/5 On top of everything else it is the 10th anniversary of my father's death... As always, my mother rings to make sure I know it's Yahrzeit, the day to remember him by as calculated by the Jewish calendar.
Compounds
yahrzeit candle n. a twenty-four-hour candle burned to commemorate the death of a close relative, traditionally kindled on the eve of the anniversary, and on the four occasions on which Yizkor (Yizkor n.) is observed annually; (later also) an electric lamp resembling such a candle, and used for the same purpose.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > artificial light > an artificial light > candle > [noun] > used at specific times or in certain places
soul candle1389
sizea1483
staff-torch1532
death candle1808
yahrzeit candle1906
1906 Jewish Encycl. (new ed.) VII. 64/2 The jahrzeit is distinguished by three rites: (1) fasting, which has been relaxed in modern times; (2) the Kaddish prayer; (3) the jahrzeit candle, which is kept burning for twenty-four hours.
1959 P. Roth Goodbye, Columbus & 5 Short Stories 203 The only light burning was downstairs in the dining room where the shabus candles flickered in their tall golden holders and Herbie's jahrzeit candle trembled in its glass.
1995 Canad. Jewish News 11 May 18/2 As people of all ages placed yahrzeit candles on the bimah, names of those who perished, relatives of local survivors, were read.
1997 B. Wagner I'm losing You (1998) 261 Free Electric Yartzeit Candle.
2002 J. Eugenides Middlesex iii. 244 They looted the Jewish market, taking everything but the matzoh and the yahrzeit candles.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1784