Aramaic

Verb

אחד • ‎(transliteration needed)

1. to hold, take, seize
2. to shut, close

Hebrew

Etymology

From Proto-Semitic *waḥad-.

Numeral

אֶחָד • ‎(ekhád) ‎(feminine counterpart אַחַת)

1. One: the number one; used as a numeral.
2. One: being exactly one; used as an adjective.
   • c. 7th Century BCE, Deuteronomy 6:4

     שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל ה׳ אֱלֹקֵינוּ ה׳ אֶחָד׃‎

     shəmá' yisra'él YHWH eloqéinu YHWH eḥáð.

     Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:^[1]
     Hear, O Israel: Hashem is our God, Hashem is the One and Only.^[2]

   • אֶחָד וְאֵין יָחִיד כְּיִחוּדוֹ, נֶעְלָם וְגַם אֵין סוֹף לְאַחְדוּתוֹ
3. One, a(n), this: used as an indefinite article or determiner.

   יש לו בן אחד ושתי בנות.‎ ― yesh lo ben ekhád ush'téi banót. ― He has one son and two daughters.

   ראית ילד אחד כאן?‎ ― ra'íta yéled ékhad kan? ― Have you seen a boy here?

4. One: used as a pronoun.

   שמתי אחד במגירה.‎ ― sámti ékhad bam'girá. ― I put one in the drawer.

Usage notes

• Like adjectives, but unlike other cardinal numbers, אֶחָד follows its noun.
• According to the Academy of the Hebrew language a feminine cardial number should be used when referring to an abstract number, e.g. in phone numbers, and also in every place where the word מִסְפָּר ‎(mispár, “number”) can be used before the number, e.g. אוטובוס (מספר) אחת ‎(otobús (mispár) akhát, “bus (number) one”).

See also

• חד ‎(khad-)

References

• “H259”, in Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible, 1979
• Notes:

1. ↑ Authorized King James translation (1611).
2. ↑ Rabbi Nosson Scherman et al. (trans. eds.), The Artscroll Series Stone Edition Tanakh, Mesorah Publications (1996), ISBN 0-88906-269-5.

Yiddish

Etymology

From Hebrew אֶחָד ‎(ekhád, “one”).

Noun

אחד • ‎(ekhod) m

1. (Judaism) the Oneness of God