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sa·bra  (säbrə)
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Tweet n. A native-born Israeli Jew. [Perhaps Yiddish sabre, member of the first group of Jewish immigrants to arrive in Palestine beginning in the 19th century, descendant of this group, probably from Palestinian Arabic ṣab(i)ra, prickly pear (Opuntia ficus-indica, which thrives in the drier parts of the Levant), singulative of ṣab(i)r, prickly pear (also the source of Modern Israeli Hebrew ṣābār, prickly pear, sabra); akin to Arabic ṣabir, ṣabr, aloe; see ṣbr in the Appendix of Semitic roots.] |
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