What does dybbukkim mean?
Dybbukkim is the plural form of dybbuk, a term from Jewish folklore denoting the soul of a dead person that enters — or clings to — the body of a living person and causes distress, madness, or strange behaviour until it can be expelled through ritual exorcism performed by a rabbi. In Kabbalistic tradition, a dybbuk was often imagined as a wandering spirit unable to find rest, sometimes because of unresolved sins in life. Stories and plays about dybbukkim became especially prominent in Yiddish literature of the early twentieth century, most famously in S. Ansky's 1914 drama The Dybbuk. Today the word appears mainly in cultural, literary, and historical contexts, and it has also entered popular fantasy fiction as a general term for a possessing demon. The anglicized plural dybbuks is equally acceptable in modern usage.
noun (plural)Plural of dybbuk: in Jewish folklore, malevolent spirits of the dead that possess the bodies of living people. The word dybbukkim refers to such spirits collectively.
- In Jewish folklore, multiple dybbuks — spirits of dead persons who enter and cling to the body of a living person.
"The rabbi performed the exorcism rite to drive out the dybbukkim said to haunt the old house."
"Folklore tells of dybbukkim that could be expelled from their hosts only by learned rabbis."
"The play's protagonist believed she was being tormented by dybbukkim."
Both the Hebrew-style plural and the anglicized plural are accepted in English writing.
"The exorcist claimed to have freed two people from dybbukkim."
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Etymology of dybbukkim
The singular dybbuk comes from the Yiddish dibek (or dybbek), derived from the Hebrew root d-v-k meaning 'to adhere' or 'to cling', reflecting the belief that the spirit attaches itself to a living host. The term spread from Hasidic and Kabbalistic circles into Yiddish literature and then into wider European languages in the early twentieth century. Dybbukkim follows the Hebrew masculine plural pattern (-im), though English also accepts the regularized plural dybbuks.
Related word forms
How dybbukkim is actually used
"Dybbukkim" is the Hebrew-style plural; "dybbuks" is an acceptable anglicized alternative. The term belongs to discussions of Jewish mysticism, folklore, literature, and theatre.
Easily confused with dybbukkim
A dybbuk is one possessing spirit, while dybbukkim is its Hebrew/Yiddish plural referring to several such spirits.