dybbuk

English

Alternative forms

• dibbuk

Etymology

From Yiddish דיבוק (dibek), from Hebrew דבק (dovek, “cling”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɪbʊk/, /ˈdɪbək/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

dybbuk (plural dybbuks or dybbukim)

1. (mythology, Judaism) A malicious possessing spirit, believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person.
   • 1993, Ellen Galford, The Dyke and the Dybbuk, Seal Press, →ISBN, page 6:

     And who am I? A dybbuk—a demon of all shapes and no shape. My profession is forced entry into the minds of mortals; my speciality is Jews.

   • 2008, Sid Fleischman, The Entertainer and the Dybbuk, New York, NY: Greenwillow Books, →ISBN, page 24:

     The Great Freddie stood up. “I'm glad that our paths crossed again. I want to help you. But I don't want to be possessed by a Jewish dybbuk. When I was growing up, I never saw a Jew. I thought they all wore horns and had tails.”
     Said the dybbuk, “What do you know? In the shtetl where I grew up, the muddy village, we thought all Christians had tails and horns. And the Nazi soldiers carried pitchforks.”

Translations

Translations

• French: dibbouk (fr) m
• German: Dibbuk (de) m
• Yiddish: דיבוק m (dibek)

References

• The Oxford English Dictionary

Further reading

• dybbuk on Wikipedia.Wikipedia