▪ I. rabbi, n.1
(ˈræbaɪ, ˈræbɪ)
Forms: 4–5 rabi, 4–6 raby, 5 rabe, 7 rabbie, 8 rabby, 6– rabbi.
[a. (orig. through L. rabbi, Gr. ῥαββί) Heb. rabbī ‘my master’, f. rabh master, with pronominal suffix. Cf. OF. rabi, rabbi (mod.F. rabbin).]
1. A title of respect (in use since the first century b.c.) given by the Jews to doctors of the law. a. As a form of address. (In English use only in translations or echoes of N.T. passages.)
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. John i. 38 Hi cwædon to him ‘rabbi’, þæt is ᵹecweden & ᵹereht lareow, ‘hwar eardast þu?’ a 1300 Cursor M. 15766 Iudas..lepe him to, ‘Aue rabi’, coth he. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xviii. 50 ‘Aue, rabby!’ quod that ribaude, and threw redes at hym. c 1386 Chaucer Sompn. T. 479 God liketh nat that Raby men vs calle. c 1450 Holland Howlat 94 Befor the Pape..on kneis he fell; said ‘Aue Raby’. 1526 Tindale Matt. xxiii. 8 Ye shall not suffre youre selves to be called Rabi. a 1550 Image Hypocr. i. 172 in Skelton's Wks. (1843) II. 416/1 Wher they may haue metinge With lordes and with ladyes, To be called Rabyes. 1611 Bible John i. 38 They said vnto him, Rabbi, (which is to say being interpreted, Master) where dwellest thou? |
b. Prefixed to personal names.
| 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 7685 Raby Moryses says alle þis. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 365 Avicenna preyseþ hym wel..and Raby Moyses. 1541 R. Copland Guydon's Quest. Chirurg. Y iij b, Rabymoyses..approued water dystylled of a leane gotes mylke. 1587 Golding De Mornay xxix. 470 The same man whom..the Chronicle of the Iewes calleth Rabbi Iohanan. 1677 Hale Prim. Orig. Mank. iii. vii. 285 The Blew and Red Men of Rabbi Elcha, that came out of the Mountains of Armenia. 1727–41 Chambers Cycl. s.v., Rabbi Juda is said to have composed the Mischna..in the IId century. 1838 Penny Cycl. XII. 92/2 The Jerusalem Talmud appears to have been compiled..by Rabbi Jochonan. |
2. a. A Jewish doctor of the law. In mod. Jewish use properly applied only to one who is authorized by ordination to deal with questions of law and ritual, and to perform certain functions.
When used in pl. as the designation of a class (the rabbis), the reference is usually to those Jewish teachers or writers who have more commonly been called rabbins.
| 1484 Caxton Fables of Alfonce i, A Rabe of Lucanye sayd to his sone in this maner. 1599 Sandys Europæ Spec. (1632) 226 Each Synagogue hath has Rabbi, to expound their Law. 1641 Milton Animadv. ii. Wks. (1851) 207 The gowned Rabbies..were of opinion that hee was a friend of Beelzebub. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 221/1 The Jews..are Married in the open Aire, either in the Streets or Gardens, by their Rabbies. 1788 Gibbon Decl. & F. l. (ed. Milman) V. 22 The dreams and traditions of the Jewish rabbis. 1838 Lytton Leila iv. v, I have been summoned into the presence of their chief rabbi. 1838 Penny Cycl. XII. 92/2 The Rabbis of Tiberias and Babylon wrote numerous commentaries upon it [the Mishna]. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 391 The early and almost universal seizures of medical officers, of the clergy and rabbis. |
b. transf. One whose learning, authority, or office is comparable to that of a Jewish rabbi. (Freq. contemptuous.)
| 1553 Bale Gardiner's ‘De vera Obed.’ To Rdr. A vij b, Yf these ruffling rabbies in theyr Sermons & aduised Orationes said and wrote the truthe. 1629 L. Owen Spec. Jesuit. 1 These great Rabbies that call themselues Iesuites. 1647 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. ii. (1739) 3 The deep obligement of the People unto these their Rabbies [the Druids]. 1691 Wood Ath. Oxon. II. 175 This book..pusled the Presbyterian Rabbies for a time. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. xi. 98 One of the great Presbyterian Rabbies..might well doubt whether..he should be benefited by a comprehension. a 1894 Stevenson Weir of Hermiston (1896) i. 24 ‘I can't see it,’ said the little Rabbi... ‘No, I cannae see it.’ 1932 Amer. Speech VII. 278 [New York Post Office] Rabbi, one who aids in the securing of a special privilege or favor. 1969 New Yorker 3 May 64/2, I asked him if he had done any thinking lately about..violence... ‘Mitch Ginsberg has been my rabbi in that,’ the Mayor answered. 1972 B. F. Conners Don't embarrass Bureau (1973) ii. 192 You're damn lucky. You came out of the thing pretty clean. You got a rabbi down at the Bureau? |
3. Comb., as rabbi-like adj.
| 1611 Cotgr., Rabinique, Rabbie-like, of the Rabbies. |
Hence † ˈrabbi v. trans., to call ‘Rabbi’. Obs.
| 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. i. K iv, He who hath moni enough shalbe rabbied and maistered at euery word. |
▪ II. rabbi, n.2
(ˈræbɪ, ˈræbaɪ)
[Corruption of rabat2.]
= stock n.1 44 b. Cf. rabat2 b.
| 1909 J. A. Nainfa Costume of Prelates iii. 50 Our Roman Collar..consists of two parts, a starched circle of white linen—the collar, and a piece of cloth or silk to which the collar itself is fastened by means of buttons, hooks, etc., and has been given the..name of ‘rabbi’. 1948 H. J. McCloud Clerical Dress & Insignia of R.C. Ch. viii. 74 The rabbi is a loose breast piece of silk or woolen material. 1978 J. Carroll Mortal Friends iv. ii. 386 Father McShane..was carefully decked out, too, but clerically and with such fastidiousness as to seem almost the dandy. He wore his black suit and rabbi, of course, with the spotless high collar which was too tight. |