אישה \ אִשָּׁה
isháfeminine
The Hebrew word for woman is אישה \ אִשָּׁה (ishá).
אישה \ אִשָּׁה is the most common and standard way to say woman in Hebrew.
Meaning: adult female person (noun)
Which one should you use?
The word אישה \ אִשָּׁה is polysemous, meaning it can be used to mean both woman and wife.
How does it change in a sentence?
The plural form of אישה \ אִשָּׁה is נשים \ נָשִׁים (nashím).
How do you pronounce it?
ishá
Did you know?
- While אישה looks like the feminine version of איש ('man'), they are actually not related. They only appear similar because a sound shift in ancient Hebrew merged two different letters into the same symbol.
- In modern Hebrew, if you want to specify a 'female' in a biological or non-social sense, you often use the word נקבה (nekavá) instead of אישה.
- The plural form נשים ('women') looks completely different from the singular form אישה. This is an example of an irregular plural where the root changes significantly.
Examples in context
- האישה הזו היא אישה חזקהThis woman is a strong woman.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “woman” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries אישה, CC BY-SA 4.0.
