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mo·hel

(mōhĕl, -ĕl, moil)

n. pl. mo·hels also mo·hal·im (-hä-lēm) or mo·hel·im (-hĕ-lēm, -ĕ-)

One who performs circumcision on a Jewish male as a religious rite.

[Mishnaic Hebrew môhēl, active participle of māhal, to circumcise, from Aramaic məhal, by-form of Biblical Hebrew māl (perhaps originally "to remove the front"), perhaps from môl, in front; see ʾwl in the Appendix of Semitic roots.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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