פֿרוי
froy/ˈfʁɔɪ̯/feminine
The Yiddish word for woman is פֿרוי (froy).
פֿרוי refers to an adult female person. Beyond simply meaning 'woman', it is also the standard word used for 'lady' or 'wife' in many contexts. Additionally, when placed before a surname, פֿרוי is used as a title meaning 'Mrs.'
Meaning: adult female person (noun)
How does it change in a sentence?
The plural form of פֿרוי is פֿרויות (women).
How do you pronounce it?
The romanization is froy. The IPA is /ˈfʁɔɪ̯/.
Did you know?
- While פֿרוי is the everyday term, a Yiddish speaker might use the Hebrew-derived word אישה (isha) to speak about a woman in a strictly religious or legalistic context.
- In modern conversational Yiddish, פֿרוי is used as a title with much more flexibility than the English 'Mrs.', often applied regardless of the woman's current marital status.
- Despite its Germanic roots, the Yiddish פֿרוי has evolved within a Slavic-influenced grammatical framework, affecting how adjectives describe it.
Examples in context
- זי איז אַ פֿרוי.She is a woman.This sentence is useful for identifying a person as a פֿרוי.Tatoeba #9083330 by shekitten, translation #3127510 by PERCE_NEIGE
- די פֿרוי איז יונג.The woman is young.This sentence shows how to describe a פֿרוי with an adjective.Tatoeba #9084299 by shekitten, translation #2429367 by gone2bacolod
- זי איז אַ רײַכע פֿרוי.She is a wealthy woman.This sentence shows how to describe a פֿרוי as being wealthy.Tatoeba #9775919 by shekitten, translation #313315 by CK
- 63 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Reizel and Avraham are talking about a neighbor.
- רייזל Reizelווער איז יענע פֿרוי?ver iz yene froy?Who is that woman?
- אברהם Avrahamזי איז מײַן נײַע שכנה.zi iz mayn naye shkhene.She is my new neighbor.
- רייזל Reizelזי זעט אויס ווי אַ פֿֿרייַליכע פֿרוי.zi zet oys vi a fraylikhe froy.She looks like a happy woman.
- אברהם Avrahamיא, זי איז זייער נײַקס.yo, zi iz zeyer nayks.Yes, she is very nice.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “woman” translations and entries פֿרוי, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
