Hebrew

Verb

רָקַע • ‎(raká) ‎(pa'al construction)

1. (transitive) To spread (something) out, to flatten (something).
   • Exodus 39:3, with translation of the King James Version:

     וַיְרַקְּעוּ אֶת־פַּחֵי הַזָּהָב וְקִצֵּץ פְּתִילִם לַעֲשׂוֹת בְּתוֹךְ הַתְּכֵלֶת וּבְתוֹךְ הָאַרְגָּמָן וּבְתוֹךְ תּוֹלַעַת הַשָּׁנִי וּבְתוֹךְ הַשֵּׁשׁ מַעֲשֵׂה חֹשֵׁב׃‎

     vay'rak'ú et-pakhéi hazaháv v'kitséts p'tilím la'asót b'tókh hat'khélet uv'tókh ha'argamán uv'tókh tolá'at hashaní uv'tókh hashésh ma'asé khoshév.

     And they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut [it into] wires, to work [it] in the blue, and in the purple, and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, [with] cunning work.

   • Numbers 16:39, with translation of the King James Version:

     וַיִּקַּח אֶלְעָזָר הַכֹּהֵן אֵת מַחְתּוֹת הַנְּחֹשֶׁת אֲשֶׁר הִקְרִיבוּ הַשְּׂרֻפִים וַיְרַקְּעוּם צִפּוּי לַמִּזְבֵּחַ׃‎

     vayikákh el'azár hakohén et makhtót han'khóshet ashér hikrívu has'rufím vay'rak'úm tsipúi lamizbéakh.

     And Eleazar the priest took the brasen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad [plates for] a covering of the altar:

   • 1973, Svika Pick, הרקדן האוטומטי ‎(“The Automatic Dancer”):

     הנה הוא שומע את המנגינה / מתחבר כמו אוטומט לזרם / בגופו רוקע על האדמה / הוא נמצא עכשיו בתוך הקצב‎

     There he hears the melody / connecting like an automatic / with his body [he] stamps on the ground / he is now within the rhythm

Conjugation

Pronunciation 2

Noun

רֶקַע • ‎(réka) m ‎(plural indefinite רְקָעִים, singular construct רֶקַע־, plural construct רִקְעֵי־) [pattern: קֶטֶל]

1. (literally) A background: the background of a picture (or the like).
2. (figuratively) A background, an ambient environment.

   מוזיקת רקע‎ ― muzikát-réka ― background music

   עם מוזיקה ברקע‎ ― im múzika baréka ― with music in the background

   • 2005, אסף גברון (translator), Audrey Niffenegger (English author), “אשתו של הנוסע בזמן” (The Time Traveler’s Wife), Kinneret, Zmora-Bitan, Dvir (publishers), ISBN 625-1200057, page 398

     כשקנדריק מפסיק לדבר, פתאום נשמעים רעשי הרקע של הבניין.‎^[1]

     k'shekéndrik mafsík l'dabér, pit'óm nishma'ím ra'ashéi-haréka shel habinyan.

     When Kendrick stops talking the background noises of the building are suddenly apparent.

3. (figuratively) A background: a person's heritage, upbringing, and so on.

   הרקע הסוציו-אקונומי של המשפחה‎ ― haréka hasotsyo-ekonómi shél hamishpakhá ― the family's socioeconomic background

4. (figuratively) A basis: an underlying situation or cause.
   • 2011 March 29, דן אבן (Dan Even), “85% מהתלונות לרופא על עייפות אינן על רקע גופני” (85% meihat'lunót l'rofé al ayefút einán al réka gufaní, “85% of medical complaints of tiredness do not have a physical basis”), in Haaretz Online.
5. (computing) A background, a desktop background.

   רקעים למחשב‎ ― r'ka'ím l'makhshév ― desktop backgrounds (literally backgrounds for a computer)

   רקעי מחשב‎ ― rik'éi-makhshév ― desktop backgrounds (literally computer backgrounds)

Usage notes

• (background, ambient environment): As may be seen in the examples above, the noun רקע ‎(réka) very often functions either as an attributive modifier, or as the object of the preposition ב־ ‎(b'-, “in”). In this respect it is similar to English background.
• (basis): Note that על רקע […] ‎(al réka, “on/against a […] background”) typically has a much stronger implication of causation than an English-speaker might expect.

Pronunciation 3

רִקַּע • ‎(riká) ‎(pi'el construction)

1. Defective spelling of ריקע.

Pronunciation 4

רֻקַּע • ‎(ruká) ‎(pi'el construction)

1. Defective spelling of רוקע.

References

• “H7554”, in Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible, 1979
• “רקע” in Abraham Even-Shoshan (אַבְרָהָם אֶבֶן־שֹׁשָן) et al., הַמִּלּוֹן הֶחָדָשׁ ‎(ha-milón he-khadásh, “The New Dictionary”), Kiryat-Sefer Ltd. (קִרְיַת־סֵפֶר בְּע״ם)‎ (1984), ISBN 965-17-0084-X, volume 3 of 3 (ק to ת), page 1305.

1. ↑ English from: Audrey Niffenegger, The Time Traveler’s Wife, Harcourt (2004), ISBN 978-0-15-602943-8, page 464.

Anagrams

• קרע