Glossary of Kosher Terms

The glossary of kosher terms is composed primarily of entries
found elsewhere on the site. The first time per page that they
appear these words are italicized. If you find one that is not
listed here, please advise using the "contact us" form. As well,
if there are other kosher terms not found on the site,
which you would want included, please let me know.

Pronunciation Key

Spelled 'a' as in mitzva is pronounced 'u' as in cup

Spelled 'ei' as in treife is pronounced 'a' as in gate

Spelled 'i' as in shechita is pronounced 'ee' as in keep

Spelled 'ch' as in shechita is pronounced 'ch' as in yeeuch or ach

Spelled 'u' as in kashrus is pronounced 'oo' as in moon

An 'e' at the end of a word - as in 'treife - does get pronounced
(it sounds like your child whining!).

An apostrophe in the middle of the word - S'fardi - separates
it into two sounds. It's as though terrific was spelled t'rrific.

Readers will note my use of the Ashkenazi pronunciation -
Shabbos rather than Shabbat; kashrus rather than kashrut.

Kosher Terms

Askenazi - im (n.), Member(s) of one of two major ethnic
Jewish subgroups. Erroneously described as 'Western';
northern is more accurate. Geographic origins in France,
Germany, Poland, the Ukraine, Russia, northern, central and
eastern Europe. Ashkenaz is the Hebrew word for Germany.

Assur (adj.), forbidden.

Avoda zara, (n.) idol worship.

Basar (n.), meat.

Basar b'chalav (n.), meat cooked in milk;
more generally meat mixed with milk.

Batul (adj.), nullified, non-existent, (food which has) lost
its original status; e.g. a drop of milk in a pot of stew.

Batul b'shishim (adj.), form of the above;
nullified by sixty times the volume.

B'chor (n.), male offspring,firstborn (usually) of its mother.
Humans or domestic animals.

B'dika (or bedika, n.), inspection; search (for something specific).

B'dikas chametz (n.), the search for leaven before Passover.

Bishul Yisroel (n.), food cooked by, or cooking supervised by a Jew.

Bitul chametz (n.), nullification of chametz.

Biyur chametz (n.), the burning (or destruction) of chametz.

B'sari (adj.), having meat status (describing a utensil or food).

Chalada (n.), poking or stabbing (rather than slicing) during slaughter.
A factor which disqualifies the resulting meat.

Chalaf (n.), the knife used to perform shechita.

Chalav (or cholov) akum (n.), the milk of an
unknown animal when milked by a non-Jew.

Chalav (or cholov) stam (n.), the milk of a
permitted animal, not milked by a Jew.

Chalav (or cholov) Yisroel (n.), milk milked
by, or under supervision of, a Jew.

Chalavi (adj.), having dairy status (describing a utensil or food).

Chametz (n.), leavened food forbidden on Passover.

Cheilev (n.), forbidden fats of domestic kosher animals.

Chodosh (adj.), lit: new; grain which sprouted after Passover;
the Torah prohibition against consuming such grain in any form.

Chok (n.) a type of mitzva ( Biblical commandment)
for which no appararent logical reason is known.

Chol (n.), weekday; non-Sabbath or holiday.

Chol ha'Moed (n.), the intermediate days
of the Passover and Succos holidays.

Dachka d'sakina (n.), the pressure of a knife on food
(effects transfer of status from one to the other).

Dina d'malchusa dina - "Secular law is binding".

D'Rabbanan (n.), decree enacted by Talmudic sages.

D'rassa (n.), lit. trampling; (slaughter caused by) pressure
of the knife on the neck (and therefore invalid).

Eiver min haChai (n.), lit. the limb of a living animal; the name
of the Torah prohibition forbidding consumption thereof.

Elul (n.), the Hebrew month immediately preceding Rosh HaShana.

Erev (n.), evening; the eve of e.g. Erev Pesach is Passover eve.

Fleishig (adj. Yiddish - pronounced fly-shig or flay-shig),
having meat status, e.g. fleishig soup, a fleishig plate.

Gid haNasheh (n.), the (forbidden) sciatic nerve of an animal.

G'ramma (n.), indirect action (causing death of an animal).

G'vinas Yisroel (n.), cheese made by or under supervision of a Jew.

Haggada (n.), the (telling of) the Passover story; the book which
contains that story and instructions for conducting the seder.

Halacha, halachos (n.) rule; ruling; legally correct course
of action, e.g. What are the halachos of Pesach?

Hechsher (n.), declaration of kosher status. e.g.
which rabbi gives that restaurant a hechsher?

Ikkur (n.) tearing; uprooting (of esophagus or trachea
during slaughter, which disqualifies the resulting meat).

Ikuv shechita (n.), (a factor which causes) invalidation of shechita.

Kasher (v.), to make something kosher.

Kashrus (n.), (or kashrut), kosher status, having kosher status.

Keilim (n.), Plural of k'li;utensils.

Kitniyos (n.), rice, corn, beans, peanuts and others; non-grain,
growing foods from which flour-like material can be ground.

K'li (n.), a utensil; container.
k'li rishon - primary container.
k'li sheni - secondary container.
k'li sh'lishi - tertiary container.

Kohein, kohanim (pl.) (n.), member of the tribe of priests;
descended of Aaron, brother of Moses.

Kosher (adj.), fit; acceptable by the standard of Torah law.
e.g. kosher food, kosher tefillin (phylacteries), kosher mikve.

Levi (n.), member of the tribe of Levi; Levite

Lifnei iver lo sitein michshol - "Do not place a stumbling block
before a blind person":VaYikra (Leviticus) 19:14. The Torah
law which forbids one from causing another person to sin.

Ma'aser (n.), the tenth part of crops grown in Israel, removed
and discarded; a gift intended for the poor or the Levites.

Mashgiach (n.), supervisor; overseer (of kosher status, for example).

M'chiras chametz (n.), sale of chametz to a non-Jew before Passover.

Mikve (or mikva, n.), a pool of especially collected fresh water
used for immersion of utensils or people to effect tahara (purity).

Milchig (Yiddish adj.), having dairy status, e.g. a milchig knife.

Mishpat (n.), type of mitzva (commandment) governing social interaction.

Mitzva (n.), Torah commandment.

Mitzvas asei (n.), a "positive" commandment - "to do".

Mitzvas lo sa'asei (n.), a "negative" commandment - "thou shalt not".

M'licha (n.), salting (of meat to extract blood during kashering).

Motzoei Shabbos (or Shabbat) (n.), the night following
the Sabbath: i.e. Saturday night after the stars appear.

Muttar (adj.), permitted.

Nata r'vai (n.), the fourth year crop yield of a fruit tree.

Nikkur (n.), removal; excision e.g. of blood veins from meat.

Nissan (n.), the Hebrew month during which Passover occurs.

Nosein ta'am lif'gam (adj.), imparts a foul or damaging
taste e.g. to a pot; prevents further transfer of status.

N'veila (n.), a carcass; an animal which died, but was not slaughtered.

Orla (n.), The first three years output of fruit trees.

Parve (adj.), having neutral (i.e. neither dairy nor meat) status

Pas akum (n.), Bread baked by a non-Jew.

Pas palter (n.), Bread commercially baked in a non-Jewish bakery.

Pas Yisroel (n.), Bread baked by or under supervision of a Jew.

Pesach (also pronounced Paysach, n.), the Passover holiday.
the first of the three joyous festivals.

Possul (adj.), unfit; unacceptable e.g. a possul mikve, a possul shechita.

Rav (n.), an honorific;ordained; the title
conferred on a pulpit rabbi or teacher.

Rebbetzin (n.), wife of the Rav.

Rishon (adj.), the first.

Rosh haShana (n.), the two day Jewish New Year holiday.

Ro'uy l'achilas kelev (adj.), lit: fit for a dog to eat; (therefore) having
the status of food. Opposite is "eino ro'uy l'achilas kelev" - not fit
for a dog to eat; not food.

Seder (Say'der n.), lit: order; [of activities
which take place on Passover night(s)].

Sephardi (pl. Sephardim, n.), (alternate spellings
s'fardi or Sefardi pl. sefardim, S'fardim)
member(s) of one of the two major ethnic Jewish subgroups;
originating from northern Africa, southern Europe,
southern Asia, the middle east."Oriental" Jews is a misnomer.

Shabbos (or Shabbat n.), the Jewish Sabbath.

Shachut (adj.), shechted; properly slaughtered kosher meat.

Shavuos (n.), second of the joyous festivals;
commemorates the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai.

Shechita (n.), proper slaughter by Biblical law.

Shecht (v.), to slaughter.

Shehiya (n.), hesitation (invalidates slaughter).

Sheini (adj.), second

Sh'lishi (adj.), third

Sh'mitta (n.), last year of the seven year tithing cycle; prohibition
against working of the land that year or use of its produce.

Sircha (pl. sirchos or sirchot n.), physical
evidence of damage to an animal's lung.

S'or (or se'or, n.), leaven or leavening agent.

Succah (n.), temporary dwelling used on the Succos holiday.

Succos (or Succot n.), third and last of the three annual joyous festivals;
commemorates survival of the Jews for forty years in the desert.

Stam Yeinom (n.), wine produced by one other than an observant Jew.

Tahara [Note:Most difficult of the kosher terms to translate] (n.),
clean; pure; unsullied; undefiled; a state uninfluenced by
death, awareness of death or contact with death.

Tahor (adj.), in a state of tahara.

Talmud (n.), the written compilation of those parts of the Torah
which were originally received at Mount Sinai in oral form.

Tamei (adj.), in a state of tuma'a.

Torah (n.), the written and oral law given to Moses on Mount Sinai
and transmitted to successive generations of Jews to this day; the Bible.

Tuma'a ( n.), the opposite of tahara. Sullied by contact with death.

T'reifa, or t'reife (pl. t'reifos n.), lit: torn - an animal dismembered
by another animal; a fatally diseased or wounded animal.
Colloquially used to describe anything not kosher e.g.
"That restaurant is treife, they cook meat and dairy together".

T'ruma (n.), a portion (rabbinically fixed at 2%) of any
crop grown, to be removed as a gift for the kohein.

Va'ad (n.), office.

Va'ad haKashrus (n.), office or organization
for supervision of kosher status.

Yad soledes bo (adj.), lit: the hand is burned by it;
a measurement of heat; hot enough to cook.

Yayin (n.), wine

Yayin nesech (n.), wine used for idol worship.

Yisroel (n.), a Jew, Israel.

Yoshon (adj.), lit: old; grain which sprouted before
Passover; baked goods made of such grain.

Misused Kosher Terms

A number of the kosher terms above are generally misunderstood
and are misused (including by me on this site(!), opting for clarity).

Kosher itself is the most misused of kosher terms! The word,
or its negative - not kosher or non-kosher - is used as an overall term
to refer to all food-related matters such as:

• species permitted or forbidden by the Torah
• mixtures allowed or not allowed
• tithes, gifts and other required removals
• transfers of non-kosher status
• any rabbinic restriction

The word actually means fit, acceptable, or properly processed.
It can be used correctly to describe a slaughtered animal or meat
which has had the blood and forbidden parts removed in accordance
with the law. It should not be used to refer to
acceptable species. Tahor and tamei are the kosher terms to use.
A cow, a salmon, a chicken (even some grasshoppers) are tahor.
A pig, a lobster, a pelican and a mouse are all tamei.


Equally overused as an all purpose opposite of kosher is the
word treife. It actually refers to eight specific diseases and
wounds which disqualify an animal from ever being permitted.
The correct usages of the words kosher and treife are discussed
at length in three different articles (numbered 2, 3 and 4) in our
"What is Kosher" section. See them for a full explanation of the
proper usage of these two important kosher terms.

The kosher terms to use for any other aspect of the dietary laws
(the ones to which kosher and treife really should not be applied)
are the words assur and muttar. They mean, respectively,
forbidden,(in violation of) and permitted (in compliance with) any
given regulation. For example: Those olives are assur - they grew in Israel
during sh'mitta. Another example: It's muttar to cook meat in that stove -
it was never used for dairy.

So, What Kosher Terms Do You Use?

This is a glossary of kosher terms and we
ought to at least know how to use them correctly.

Having said that and done that, you know and I know
that we will both keep using the word kosher to describe
permitted foods. I myself will continue to use not kosher
to refer to anything forbidden. I prefer not to misuse the
word treife. If everybody else does, I won't mind. The main thing
is not to eat it and for that we have The Definition of Kosher!

Readers are invited to submit alternate translations
for the kosher terms presented here.
Reader are also invited to suggest other
kosher terms for inclusion in this glossary.

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