Litvak
(ˈlɪtvɒk)
Also Litvok.
[Yiddish, f. Pol. Litwak Lithuanian.]
A Jew from Lithuania or its neighbouring regions.
| 1892 I. Zangwill Childr. Ghetto I. 38 To a Dutch or Russian Jew, the ‘Pullack’, or Polish Jew, is a poor creature; and..the ‘Pullack’ looks down upon the ‘Litvok’, or Lithuanian. 1970 L. M. Feinsilver Taste of Yiddish 10 Four major dialects developed. Of these, the one spoken by so-called Litvaks, the Jews of Lithuania, White Russia and Northeastern Poland, is essentially ‘standard’ or literary Yiddish. 1970 I. Sieff Mem. i. 5 ‘What can you expect? He's a Litvak.’ A kind of Scot in Jewry? Whatever the reason, many Litvaks led the way in emigration when the circumstances were most daunting. 1971 B. Malamud Tenants 209 A middle-aged Litvak, a stocky man in mud-spotted trousers. |