English Explanatory Dictionary

shtetl

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A Jewish village or small town, especially one in Eastern Europe.

Pronunciation

shtĕt'(ə)l /ˈʃtɛt(ə)l/ En-us-shtetl.ogg

Word forms

shtetl shtetls shtetlach shtetlech shtetlekh

Etymology

From Yiddish שטעטל (shtetl, “small town, village”), from שטאָט (shtot, “city”) + ־ל (-l, “diminutive suffix”) (compare German Städtl, Swabian Städtele), from Old High German stat, from Proto-West Germanic *stadi, from Proto-Germanic *stadiz, from Proto-Indo-European *stéh₂tis. Doublet of stead.

Related words

shtot
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