Etymograph

English

shul

Shul comes from Yiddish שול ‘school, synagogue’, from Latin schola ‘Leisure time given to learning’, and ultimately from Proto-Hellenic *skʰolā́ ‘holding back’.

  1. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*skʰolā́1‘holding back’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσχολή2skholḗ‘leisure, free time’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEschola2‘Leisure time given to learning’
  4. Old High Germanc. 750–1050scuola2‘school’
  5. Yiddishmodernשול2shul‘school, synagogue’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2006shul2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek σχολή
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English shul
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2006, Howard Jacobson, Kalooki Nights: “That Asher's mind would have also been on Elohim,…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*skʰolā́Wiktionary, Ancient Greek σχολή‘holding back’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσχολήWiktionary, English shulskholḗ‘leisure, free time’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscholaWiktionary, English shul‘Leisure time given to learning’
  4. Old High Germanc. 750–1050scuolaWiktionary, English shul‘school’
  5. YiddishmodernשולWiktionary, English shulshul‘school, synagogue’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2006shulWiktionary, English shul. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2006, Howard Jacobson, Kalooki Nights: “That Asher's mind would have also been on Elohim,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *seǵʰ- ‘to hold’

severe, sketch, severity, hector, perseverance, hectic, epoch, schema, 23 more

through Ancient Greek σχολή ‘leisure, free time’

scholastic, 4 more

through Latin schola ‘Leisure time given to learning’

school, scholar, 1 more

Today it means

noun An Ashkenazi synagogue.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “shul”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek σχολή. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Hellenic *skʰolā́ / shul

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