What does almah mean?
An almah is a young woman of marriageable age, a term best known from the Hebrew Bible, where it appears in Isaiah 7:14. Because the Hebrew word denotes a young woman who has reached puberty without specifying her sexual experience, its translation has long been debated: the ancient Greek Septuagint and later the King James Bible rendered it as 'virgin', making the verse central to Christian readings of a messianic prophecy, while many modern translators prefer the more literal 'young woman'. Separately, during the nineteenth century European writers borrowed the related Arabic term to describe the almah as an Egyptian female entertainer or dancing girl, and this exoticized figure became a stock subject of Orientalist painting and travel writing. Today the word survives mainly in biblical scholarship and discussions of translation, where precision about what 'almah' does and does not mean remains genuinely consequential.
nounAn almah is a young woman of marriageable age; in biblical Hebrew the term denotes a girl who has reached puberty but is not necessarily a virgin. In 19th-century English usage, 'almah' also came to refer to an Egyptian female entertainer or dancing girl.
- A young woman of marriageable age in biblical Hebrew, notably in Isaiah 7:14.
- A 19th-century English borrowing (via Arabic) for an Egyptian female entertainer or dancing girl.
"Scholars still debate whether the almah in Isaiah 7:14 should be rendered as 'young woman' or 'virgin'."
"The Hebrew text of Isaiah 7:14 uses the word almah, which some translators render as 'virgin' and others as 'young woman'."
"Victorian painters filled their canvases with romanticized images of the almah, the fabled dancing girls of Cairo."
When referring to the Egyptian dancers, English writers typically used the plural 'almahs'; the Hebrew plural of the biblical term is 'alamot'.
"The travel writer described the almahs performing at a wedding in Cairo."
One Hebrew word — almah — sits at the center of one of history's most contested Bible translations: does Isaiah 7:14 predict a virgin, or just a young woman?
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of almah
The word derives from the Hebrew עַלְמָה (ʿalmāh), meaning a girl or young woman of marriageable age, a noun built on the Semitic root ʿ-l-m associated with youth and vigour. It entered English through biblical scholarship, where its rendering in Isaiah 7:14 made it a term of lasting theological debate. A parallel borrowing came via Arabic in the early nineteenth century, when European travellers used 'almah' (also spelled 'alme' or 'almeh') for Egyptian dancing girls, giving the word its second, literary life.
How almah is actually used
The word carries two quite separate strands of usage. In religious and scholarly contexts it refers to the Hebrew term and is discussed with care because its translation affects interpretations of Isaiah 7:14. In older literary and Orientalist writing it denotes an Egyptian dancing girl, a usage now dated and often viewed as exoticizing. The plural is usually 'almahs' when referring to the dancers, though the Hebrew plural is 'alamot'.
Easily confused with almah
'Alma' is a Spanish, Italian, and Latin word meaning 'soul' or 'nourishing', whereas 'almah' is a Semitic term for a young woman or, later, an Egyptian dancing girl.