Standard Lemma guide

Gaon

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /ɡəˈ(ʔ)oʊn/
  • /ɡɑːˈ(ʔ)oʊn/
  • /ɡɔɪn/ Ashkenazi
  • [ɡɔʏn] Ashkenazi
  • [ɡœʏn] Ashkenazi
  • /ˈɡeɪɑn/ Anglicized
  • /ˈɡeɪən/ Anglicized

1

noun

Meaning 1

A sage of the Talmudic academies of Babylonia

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Judaism, historical

Examples

  • 1991, Joseph Telushkin, Jewish Literacy http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&id=5mR5jX70oqwC&pg=PA230&lpg=PA230&sig=efbu3LMM7kVUrIzfWghTlqOeIXQ The Gaon also was distressed by the veneration the Hasidim accorded their rabbinic leaders, men whom the Gaon generally regarded as ignoramuses.
  • 1997, Moshe Gil, A History of Palestine http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&id=M0wUKoMJeccC&pg=PA531&lpg=PA531&sig=ffm2drYu_SPO-Cgn9eM32oW2rhM The Gaon also mentions a letter he has received from Ḥasan as-ʻĀqūlī (al-ʻĀqūla, the ancient Aramaic name for Kūfa) undoubtedly one of the emigrants from Iraq to Egypt whom the Gaon knew..

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Alternative letter-case form of Gaon.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A village.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: India

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Hebrew גָּאוֹן (ga'ón, “grandeur, majesty, genius”).

Borrowed from Hindi गांव (gāmv).