kaddish
Syllables: kad·dish/ˈkædɪʃ/US/ˈkɑdɪʃ/
kaddish noun: a Jewish prayer of praise to God recited during services, and specifically when mourning the death of a close relative.
Noun (1)
kaddish (plural kaddishes or kaddishim)
- A Jewish prayer of praise to God recited during services, and specifically when mourning the death of a close relative.
- O, my Father: ancient, hallowed
Lonely, disappointed Father:
Betrayed and rejected Ruler of the Universe:
Angry, wrinkled Old Majesty:
I want to pray
I want to say Kaddish
My own Kaddish. There may be
No one to say it after me1963, “Symphony No. 3 ‘Kaddish’”, Samuel Pisar (lyrics), Leonard Bernstein (music) - So context me no contexts, analyse me no analyses, suspend your partially informed diagnoses; leave off your strenuous efforts at even-handedness. Let us be, to grieve, rage, weep; say the mourners' kaddish.2023 October 14, Simon Schama, “Let us be, to grieve, rage, weep; say the mourners’ kaddish”, in FT Weekend, London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 9
- O, my Father: ancient, hallowed
Noun (2) capitalized: Kaddish
Kaddish (plural Kaddishes or Kaddishim)
- Alternative letter-case form of kaddish.
- ‘You bring him peace, you honour him. And all you have to do is go to shul and say Kaddish with ten friends around you.’2002, Zadie Smith, The Autograph Man, Penguin Books (2003), page 133
Forms of kaddish
| plural | kaddishes |
|---|---|
| plural | kaddishim |
| alternative form | Kaddish |
| alternative form | qaddish |
| plural | Kaddishes |
| plural | Kaddishim |
Origin of kaddish
Borrowed from Hebrew קַדִּישׁ (kadish, “kaddish”), from Aramaic קַדִּישׁ (qaddīš, “holy; holy person”). Doublet of kiddush. The plural form kaddishim is borrowed from Hebrew קַדִּישׁים (kadishim).
Words that rhyme with kaddish
Questions about kaddish
- What does kaddish mean?
- Kaddish means a Jewish prayer of praise to God recited during services, and specifically when mourning the death of a close relative.
- What part of speech is kaddish?
- Kaddish is a noun.
- How do you pronounce kaddish?
- Kaddish is pronounced /ˈkædɪʃ/ (UK).
- What is the plural of kaddish?
- The plural of kaddish is kaddishes.
Words near kaddish in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: kaddish (page history and authors); Kaddish (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-kaddish.wav.
Cite this entry: “kaddish.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/kaddish. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.