Litvak
/ˈlɪt.væk/noun
A Jewish person originating from Lithuania or the historic Jewish communities of Lithuania and neighboring parts of northeastern Europe.
Did you know?Litvak Jewish culture became especially associated with rigorous Talmudic study, including the influential intellectual tradition centered at the Volozhin yeshiva.
Etymological Timeline
Medieval period
East Slavic
Litva
“The name used for Lithuania in medieval East Slavic sources.”
14th–16th centuries
Latin
Lituania
“The Latin name for Lithuania, used in ecclesiastical and administrative writing.”
18th–19th centuries
Yiddish
Litvak
“A Lithuanian; in Jewish usage, a Jew from Lithuania or the broader Lithuanian Jewish cultural region.”
19th century
Hebrew/Yiddish
Litvak
“A Lithuanian Jew, often contrasted culturally with a Galitzianer from Galicia.”
Modern English
English
Litvak
“A member or descendant of the Lithuanian Jewish community, including its diaspora.”
Explore more surprising origins