Standard Lemma guide

rabbi

noun · 6 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: /ˈɹæ.baɪ/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: R AE1 B AY2 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A Jewish scholar or teacher of halacha (Jewish law), capable of making halachic decisions.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Judaism, countable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A Jew who is the leader or is qualified to be the leader of a Jewish congregation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Judaism, countable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: cleric

3

noun

Meaning 3

A senior officer who acts as a mentor.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, slang

Topics: government, law-enforcement

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

The title of a rabbi (a Jewish scholar or teacher); used before or instead of the rabbi's name.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

a Hebrew title of respect for a Jewish scholar or teacher

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: title, title of respect, form of address

6

noun

Meaning 6

spiritual leader of a Jewish congregation; qualified to expound and apply Jewish law

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: spiritual leader

Narrower terms: amora, Hillel

History

Etymology

From Middle English raby, from Ecclesiastical Latin rabbi, and its source Koine Greek ῥαββί (rhabbí), from (post-Tanakh) Hebrew רַבִּי (rabbi, “my master”), from רַב (rav, “master”) + ־ִי (-í, “my”). Compare late Old English rabbi. Doublet of rebbe and related to rav.

Across languages

Translations

96 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: rabbyn — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Albanian: rabin — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Arabic: حَاخَام (ḥāḵām) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Arabic: حَبْر (ḥabr) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Arabic: رَابِي (rābī) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Tunisian Arabic: ربّي (rǝbbi) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Aramaic: רִבִּי (ribbī) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Lishana Deni: מעלם (maʕalləm) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Lishana Deni: חאכם (ḥāxam) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Armenian: րաբբի (rabbi) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Asturian: rabín — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Azerbaijani: ravvin — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Azerbaijani: xaxam — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Belarusian: рабі́н (rabín) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Belarusian: ра́бін (rábin) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Bengali: রব্বি (robbi) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Bulgarian: рави́н (ravín) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Catalan: rabí — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Chinese Mandarin: 拉比 (lābǐ) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Czech: rabín — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Danish: rabbiner — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Dutch: rabbijn — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Esperanto: rabeno — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Esperanto: rabenino — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Estonian: rabi — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Finnish: rabbiini — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Finnish: rabbi — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • French: rabbin — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Galician: rabino — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Georgian: რაბინი (rabini) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • German: Rabbiner — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • German: Rabbinerin — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Gothic: 𐍂𐌰𐌱𐌱𐌰𐌿𐌽𐌴𐌹 (rabbaunei) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Greek: ραββίνος (ravvínos) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Ancient Greek: ῥαββουνί (rhabbouní) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Hebrew: רַב (rav) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Hebrew: רַבִּי (rabí) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Hindi: रब्बी (rabbī) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Hungarian: rabbi — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Icelandic: rabbíni — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Ido: rabino — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Indonesian: rabi — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Indonesian: rabbi — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Interlingua: rabbi — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Irish: raibí — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Italian: rabbino — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Italian: rabbina — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Japanese: ラビ (rabi) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Kazakh: раввин (ravvin) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Khmer: រ៉ាប៊ី (raabii) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Korean: 랍비 (rapbi) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Kyrgyz: раввин (ravvin) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Ladino: חכם — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Ladino: haham — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Latin: rabbi — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Latvian: rabīns — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Lithuanian: rabinas — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Macedonian: рабин (rabin) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Malay: rabai — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Maltese: rabbi — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Norwegian Bokmål: rabbiner — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: rabbin — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: rabbinar — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Persian: خاخام (xâxâm) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Persian: ربی (rabi) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Polish: rabin — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Portuguese: rabino — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Punjabi: ਰੱਬੀ (rabbī) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Punjabi: ربّی (rabbī) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Romanian: rabin — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Russian: равви́н (ravvín) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Russian: ра́бби (rábbi) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Russian: ре́бе (rɛ́bɛ) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Serbo-Croatian: ра̀бӣн — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Serbo-Croatian: ràbīn — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Slovak: rabín — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Slovene: rabin — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Spanish: rabino — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Swedish: rabbin — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Swedish: rabbi — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Tagalog: rabi — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Tagalog: rabino — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Tajik: хохом (xoxom) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Thai: รับบี — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Turkish: haham — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Turkish: rabbi — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Ottoman Turkish: خاخام (haham) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Ukrainian: раби́н (rabýn) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Ukrainian: рави́н (ravýn) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Ukrainian: ра́бі (rábi) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Ukrainian: ре́бе (rébe) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Urdu: ربی (rabī) — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Uzbek: ravvin — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Vilamovian: raobin — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Welsh: rabi — Jewish scholar or teacher
  • Yiddish: רבי (rebe) — Jewish scholar or teacher
Real reading context

rabbi in complete knowledge articles