בת

Hebrew

Root
ב־ן

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Semitic *bint-, the /i/ changing to /a/ through Philippi's Law and /n/ assimilating to the following /t/.

Noun

בַּת (bat) f (plural indefinite בָּנוֹת, singular construct בַּת־, plural construct בְּנוֹת־, masculine counterpart בֶּן)

  1. daughter
    • Exodus 2:7, with translation of the King James Version:
      וַתֹּאמֶר אֲחֹתוֹ אֶל בַּת פַּרְעֹה
      vatómer achotó el bat par'ó
      Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter
  2. By analogy to בן – a direct female descendent:
    בת חוהbat khavádaughter of Eve
  3. A girl, a gal
  4. (construct only) Used in expressing the age of a woman, a girl, or the referent of a feminine noun: age, aged.
    היא בת שש.hi bat shesh.She is six years old. [literally, a daughter of six]
    • HaTikva
      עוד לא אבדה תקותינו \ התקוה בת שנות אלפים
      hatikvah bat shenot ʿalpayim / lihyot ʿam chofshi be'artzeinu
      Our hope is not yet lost / The hope of two thousand years old
Declension

Usage notes

  • Like other words that start with ב, ג, ד, כ, פ, or ת, this term's initial letter takes a dagesh lene. In older texts, that dagesh is usually dropped when the word is preceded, in the same phrase, by a word ending in a mater lectionis; in modern texts, the dagesh is usually preserved even in such a case. Likewise, in older texts, the dagesh is always dropped when the word is prefixed by an indefinite ב־, כ־, or ל־, or by ו־; in modern speech, the dagesh is often preserved in such a case. (After the definite ב־, כ־, and ל־, and after the prefixes ה־, מ־, and ש־, there is a dagesh forte, as described in the usage notes for those prefixes.)

References

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