Standard Lemma guide

shofar

noun · 2 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.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈʃəʊ̯fə/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈʃoʊ̯fɚ/
  • General-American: /ˈʃoʊ̯fɑɹ/
  • General-American: /ʃoʊ̯ˈfɑɹ/
  • /ˈʃɔɪ̯fɚ/ some Ashkenazim
  • /ˈʃaʊ̯fɔʁ/ German Ashkenazim
  • /ˈʃɛɪ̯fɚ/ some Lithuanian Ashkenazim
  • /ˈʃəɪ̯fɚ/ some Lithuanian Ashkenazim
  • homophone: chauffeur (some pronunciations of both words)

1

noun

Meaning 1

A ram’s-horn trumpet, used for Jewish ritual purposes.

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

an ancient musical horn made from the horn of a ram; used in ancient times by the Israelites to sound a warning or a summons; used in synagogues today on solemn occasions

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: shophar

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: horn

History

Etymology

From the Hebrew שׁוֹפָר (shofár, “shofar”).

Across languages

Translations

34 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: شَبُّور (šabbūr) — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • Catalan: xofar — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • Danish: shofar — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • Dutch: sjofar — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • French: chophar — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • French: chofar — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • French: shofar — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • French: schofar — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • French: shophar — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • German: Schofar — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • German: Schofarhorn — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • German: Halljahrposaune — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • German: Hallposaune — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • Hebrew: שׁוֹפָר (shofár) — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • Hindi: शोफ़ार (śofār) — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • Hungarian: sófár — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • Italian: shofar — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • Ladino: שופר — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • Ladino: shofar — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • Malay: shofar — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • Norwegian Bokmål: sjofar — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: sjofár — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • Occitan: shofar — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • Persian: شوفار (šowfâr) — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • Polish: szofar — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • Polish: szałfer — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • Portuguese: shofar — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • Portuguese: chofar — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • Russian: шофа́р (šofár) — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • Spanish: shofar — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • Swedish: shofar — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • Turkish: şofar — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • Turkmen: şofar — ram’s-horn trumpet
  • Yiddish: שופֿר (shoyfer) — ram’s-horn trumpet