Jewish life

shamus

American slang for a private eye, most likely from Yiddish shames, the synagogue caretaker who watches over things, though the Irish name Séamus probably helped it stick. The same Aramaic 'servant' became the deacon of Syriac and Arabic churches.

Weakest linkProbable

The road to American English

From Mishnaic Hebrew to Modern Hebrew

From Aramaic to Syriac, Arabic

165 BCEAramaic

Hops are evenly spaced; labels show the year each form is first attested.

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