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Feb 16, 2012

how to say "to recover" in Hebrew


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לְהִתְאוֹשֵׁשׁ




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To "get better" from an illness is לְהַבְרִיא (leh-hahv-REE) or לְהַחְלִים (leh-hahkh-LEEM). But recovery doesn't have to be from an illness - it could be from a shock or a spiritual low as well.


The Hebrew word for to recover is לְהִתְאוֹשֵׁש (leh-heet-oh-SHESH), while recovery is הִתְאוֹשְׁשֹוּת (heet-oh-sheh-SHOOT). Likewise, a recovery room is a חֲדַר התאוששות (khah-DAHR heet-oh-sheh-SHOOT).


I haven't found the source of this word in Biblical or Rabbinic literature. I'm guessing its root is אִיש (eesh), meaning man... or, more globally, a person of solidity; thus Hebrew took the root and created the word להתאושש meaning to come back to oneself


להתאושש is a reflexive-intensive התפעל verb. It follows the pattern of verbs that double the last root letter while adding an oh vowel after the first root letter. Another example is לְהִתְקוֹמֵם (leh-heet-koh-MEM) - to rise up - of the root ק.ו.מ (k.w.m), meaning rise.






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