omer
1
9.9
An old unit for dry goods in ancient Israel and the 49-day Jewish count of days from Passover to Shavuot
- noun
- /ˈoʊmər/
:
omer
- The ritual of counting the omer connects the two important Jewish holidays of Passover and Shavuot.
Examples
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It's almost ready for you to deliver to your "disgust-omers."
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During the festival, we will count an omer of barley each day until Shavuot arrives.
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In ancient times, farmers would measure their harvests using the omer as a standard unit.
Surface Forms
Etymology
Omer comes from the Hebrew word omer, which means 'sheaf', a small bundle of grain. Because a 'sheaf' was used as an amount for offerings, omer became the name of that unit of measure and then the period of 49 days, or seven weeks, that Jews count between Passover and Shavuot.