סְטֵיְק (steyk) — steak
Etymology
The modern Hebrew word for a thick cut of beef for grilling traveled a long and tangled route before arriving in Israeli kitchens. The word steak itself is not English in origin. It was borrowed from Old Norse steik (a roasted piece), a noun derived from the Old Norse verb steikja (to roast, to fry on a spit), which in turn descended from an ancient Germanic word meaning "to put on a skewer." This was part of a large lexical layer that Norse settlers introduced into English during their occupation of England from the 9th century onward.
When early Hebrew Revival speakers in Ottoman and British Palestine needed a term for thick cuts of beef, they initially used Yiddish terms: bifstek and bifstek, both from German Beefsteak, which had itself been borrowed from English in the late 18th century. Beefsteak is a compound of beef and steak — the former from Old French boef, from Latin bos (ox). The compound bifstek was attested in English from the early 18th century. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, steak displaced beefsteak in English and German usage.
In 1912, the Language Committee (Va'ad HaLashon) announced that a Hebrew word had been found for the concept: אֻמְצָה (umtza). In reality this was not a newly coined Hebrew word but an Aramaic term retrieved from the Babylonian Talmud (Hullin 59a: "to eat some of it as an umtza"). The committee chose it based on Rashi's 10th-century interpretation: "not fully roasted in the oven but heavily salted and slightly roasted over coals" — which sounded like a steak. However, examination of other Talmudic occurrences (Pesahim 74b) and parallel Aramaic and Arabic usages reveals that the Talmudic umtza was probably a dish of meat pieces in vinegar, not a grilled steak at all. The word's ultimate origin is debated: either from Akkadian umtzu (a food) via a root related to Hebrew ḥametz (vinegar/fermentation), or from Persian āmīz (a mixed dish), from the verb āmextan (to mix).
Despite its questionable fitness, אֻמְצָה spread through the growing Jewish community in Palestine through the 1920s and 1930s, gradually displacing the Yiddish terms. But in the 1940s, the English loanword סְטֵיְק began displacing אֻמְצָה in turn — likely under the combined influence of the British Mandate administration and the Yekkes (German-Jewish immigrants), who pronounced Steak as stéyk. In German the standard pronunciation of Steak is sték (though stéyk exists), and this accounts for the discrepancy between the Hebrew spelling סטייק (suggesting the English pronunciation) and dominant spoken form סְטֵק.
The vocabulary around steak includes several further etymological layers. The popular cut אַנְטְרִיקוֹט (entrecôte) comes from French entre (between) + côte (ribs). The alternative Hebrew term וֶרֶד הַצֶּלַע (rose of the rib) appears to be a misguided calque of the Polish term rozbratl, which was confused with the Polish word for rose (róża) when in fact the Polish word comes from German Rostbraten (grilled roast). The פִילֵה (fillet) comes from French filet de bœuf (beef strip). The term סִנְטָה, apparently unique to Israeli Hebrew, likely comes from Ladino sinta (strip/ribbon), from Latin; it appears in Israeli usage from the 1930s. The grilling equipment אַסְכָּלָה (grill rack) comes from Mishnaic Greek eskhara (hearth, brazier); גְּרִיל from English; בַּרְבִּיקְיוּ from Spanish barbacoa from Taino (Caribbean language) barbacoa (wooden platform); and מַנְגָּל from Arabic manqal (portable [brazier]), via Turkish (which adopted the Bedouin pronunciation as mangal) and then Russian into Hebrew.
Key Quotes
"בראשית 1912 הכריז ועד הלשון שנמצאה לכך מילה עברית – אֻמְצָה" — אילון גלעד, מהשפה פנימה
"אינו צלי כל כך בתנור אלא מולחו מאד וצולהו כל דהו על הגחלים" — רש״י, פירוש לחולין (הגדרת אומצה)
Timeline
- Ancient: Old Norse steikja (to roast on a spit) → noun steik (roast)
- 9th century CE: Norse vocabulary enters English during Viking settlement of England
- Early 18th century: "beefsteak" attested in English
- Late 18th century: German Beefsteak borrowed from English
- 19th–20th century: "steak" displaces "beefsteak" in English and German usage
- Early 20th century: Yiddish bifstek/bifstek used in Hebrew Revival Palestine
- 1912: Va'ad HaLashon announces אֻמְצָה (from Aramaic Talmud, Hullin 59a) as the Hebrew term
- 1920s–1930s: אֻמְצָה spreads in the Jewish community of Palestine, displacing Yiddish terms
- 1930s: סִנְטָה (a specific cut) appears in Israeli butcher usage; probably from Ladino sinta
- 1940s: סְטֵיְק enters Hebrew; displaces אֻמְצָה in popular speech
- 2005: Academy of the Hebrew Language coins מַצְלֶה for the grilling device and מִצְלֶה for the grilling event; neither widely adopted
Related Words
- אֻמְצָה — the 1912 Language Committee term for steak (Aramaic/Talmudic origin); still used in formal/butcher contexts
- אַנְטְרִיקוֹט — entrecôte (French entre + côte)
- פִילֵה — fillet (French filet de bœuf)
- סִנְטָה — a specific Israeli beef cut; from Ladino sinta (strip); usage unique to Hebrew
- וֶרֶד הַצֶּלַע — alternative Hebrew name for entrecôte; mistaken calque of Polish rozbratl
- אַסְכָּלָה — grill rack (from Mishnaic Hebrew; from Greek eskhara)
- מַנְגָּל — barbecue device (from Arabic manqal via Turkish and Russian)