אָחוּז (ahuz) — percent (%)

Etymology

The word אָחוּז is a passive participle of the biblical verb אָחַז (ahaz, "to grasp, to take hold"), meaning literally "one that is grasped/taken." The origin of its mathematical meaning lies in a verse in Numbers (31:30), where God instructs Moses to levy a tax on the Israelites' war spoils from the defeat of Midian: "And from the half belonging to the people of Israel you shall take one drawn [ehad ahuz] from every fifty, of the people, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the livestock, and give them to the Levites."

In this verse, אָחוּז means a "taken" or "drawn" portion — one out of fifty, i.e., 2%. In the 19th century, Hebrew writers began using this verse and the word אחוז as a basis for expressing ratios and fractions, combining it with words like "from a hundred" (ממאה) to express percentages.

The concept of percentage itself has a fascinating history. While the Romans levied taxes in fractional rates (the centesima rerum venalium was a 1% sales tax on public auctions, but expressed as "one hundredth," not "one percent"), true percentage notation emerged only in late medieval Italy, where the development of modern banking and double-entry bookkeeping created the need for precise decimal-like calculations. Italian accountants began using "per cento" (per hundred) in manuscript form, and over the centuries the notation "p cento" → "p c°" → "%" evolved as the abbreviations compressed. The characteristic slash in the % symbol comes from the separation line between numerator and denominator, with the two zeros representing "100."

The percentage concept spread from Italy across Europe, with languages either adopting "per cento" directly (Russian процент, German Prozent) or translating it (French pour cent, Greek). Yiddish used פּראָצענט (protzsent), which appeared in Hebrew texts throughout the 19th century alongside various native attempts: "five parts from a hundred" (5%), "ten from a hundred" (10%), and even the redundant phrase "one ahuz from a hundred" — in which the biblical word אחוז appeared seemingly out of place.

In 1892, Ze'ev Yavetz cut through this confusion with a simple proposal: since most contexts where אחוז appeared already implied "from a hundred," simply drop the "from a hundred" and let אחוז stand alone as the Hebrew word for "percent." Eliezer Ben-Yehuda accepted the proposal, as did many others, and אָחוּז became the standard Hebrew term for percent — while the % symbol is called סִימַן הָאָחוּז (the percent sign).

Key Quotes

"וּמִמַּחֲצִת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל תִּקַּח אֶחָד אָחֻז מִן הַחֲמִשִּׁים מִן הָאָדָם מִן הַבָּקָר מִן הַחֲמֹרִים וּמִן הַצֹּאן מִכָּל הַבְּהֵמָה וְנָתַתָּה אֹתָם לַלְוִיִּם" — במדבר ל״א, ל׳

Timeline

• Biblical: אָחוּז appears in Numbers 31:30 meaning "one drawn/taken" (a fraction from fifty)
• ~13th century Italy: "Per cento" emerges in Italian banking manuscripts
• ~15th century: "p cento" notation abbreviated; % sign gradually develops
• ~16th century: % sign takes its modern form
• 17th century: "percent" concept spreads across Europe; languages adopt or translate "per cento"
• 18th–19th century: Yiddish uses פּראָצענט; Hebrew uses a mix of native phrases and the Yiddish borrowing
• 1865: Ha-Maggid uses biblical-style fraction: "one quarter ahuz from a thousand" (0.025%)
• 1892: Ze'ev Yavetz proposes using אחוז alone (without ממאה) as Hebrew word for "percent"
• 1892: Ben-Yehuda accepts the proposal; widespread adoption follows
• Modern: אָחוּז is the standard Hebrew word for percent; % sign called סימן האחוז

Related Words

• שִׁעוּר — rate, proportion (Mishnaic word; also means "lesson" in modern Hebrew)
• שֶׁבֶר — fraction (biblical word for "break/part")
• יַחַס — ratio, proportion
• מֵאָה — hundred (from which per cento derives)