Gaon

See also: gaon

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Geonim

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Hebrew גָּאוֹן (ga'ón, “grandeur, majesty, genius”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡəˈ(ʔ)oʊn/, /ɡɑːˈ(ʔ)oʊn/
• IPA^(key): /ɡɔɪn/, [ɡɔʏn], [ɡœʏn] (Ashkenazi)
• IPA^(key): /ˈɡeɪɑn/, /ˈɡeɪən/ (Anglicized)

Noun

Gaon (plural Gaonim or Geonim or Gaons)

1. (historical, Judaism) A sage of the Talmudic academies of Babylonia
   • 1991, Joseph Telushkin, Jewish Literacy

     The Gaon also was distressed by the veneration the Hasidim accorded their rabbinic leaders, men whom the Gaon generally regarded as ignoramuses.

   • 1996, Roger Friedland, Richard Hecht, To Rule Jerusalem

     Like the hasidim, he too refused the title of rabbi, adopting the ancient title of Gaon.

   • 1997, Moshe Gil, A History of Palestine

     The Gaon also mentions a letter he has received from Ḥasan as-ʻĀqūlī (al-ʻĀqūla, the ancient Aramaic name for Kūfa) undoubtedly one of the emigrants from Iraq to Egypt whom the Gaon knew..

Derived terms

• gaonate

Anagrams

• Gano, Goan, Nago, Noga, agon, goan