What does shibboleth mean?
A shibboleth is a word, phrase, or custom that serves as a password or identifying test. Its figurative use is broader: a shibboleth can be any distinctive belief or practice that marks someone as a member of a particular group, community, or political faction. The word may also carry a less neutral implication, describing a standard that separates insiders from outsiders. Because it arose from a memorable episode in the biblical Book of Judges, “shibboleth” retains the dramatic suggestion of a challenge to a person’s identity. Today it is especially useful when discussing passwords, cultural or religious distinctions, political loyalty, and the subtle tests by which groups recognize their own. Its biblical history gives it a more evocative and historically resonant quality than the plainer terms “password” and “watchword.”
nounA word, phrase, or custom used as a password or test to identify members of a particular group. By extension, it may refer to a principle, belief, or practice that reveals whether someone belongs to a particular group or holds a particular viewpoint.
- A word or phrase used as a password or identifying test.
- A distinctive belief, custom, or standard that reveals membership in a group or adherence to a viewpoint.
- A term or practice that excludes or distinguishes people from a particular group.
"The phrase became a shibboleth for members of the club."
"Only those who knew the family password could enter the house."
"Support for the policy has become a political shibboleth among party members."
The plural is used when referring to several different passwords, identifying phrases, or group-distinguishing tests.
"Family traditions can become powerful shibboleths among different branches of a community."
A biblical battle cry became our word for a password: the Gileadites required rival Ephraimites to pronounce the word “shibboleth” to prove their identity.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does shibboleth come from?
The word comes from Hebrew in the biblical Book of Judges, where the Gileadites used “shibboleth” as a test word to identify the Ephraimites. The Hebrew term is traditionally interpreted as “ear of grain” or “ear of corn,” although its precise etymological interpretation has been debated. The English form entered wider usage as a general word for a password or identifying phrase, and later acquired its figurative sense of a group-defining belief or custom.
How shibboleth is actually used
The word is relatively formal and literary. In its figurative use, it can suggest a boundary between groups, sometimes with a potentially discriminatory or exclusionary connotation.