lechayim means "To life": a Jewish drinking toast. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 89 out of 100.
lechayim is pronounced /ləˈxaɪ.ɪm/.
Why “lechayim” is a great word
LECHAYIM — [Interjection] A traditional Jewish toast meaning "to life." Borrowed from Hebrew לְחַיִּים (l'chayim), a prepositional phrase meaning "to life." Unlike "cheers," a generic secular effusion, or "skål," a Norse tribute to the vessel, "lechayim" is a conscious consecration of the moment to existence. It is the defiant clink of glasses in the face of history's sorrow, the bright sweetness of wine against the tongue, the murmured word among friends in quiet relief—a small, spoken fortress against the dark, affirming life in the face of its inherent fragility.
Etymology
Borrowed from Hebrew לחיים.
intj
- "To life": a Jewish drinking toast.“Drink l'chaim, to life, to life, l'chaim! L'chaim, l'chaim, to life!”
noun
- A toast“There's a little kiddush, and one of the rabbis may wander around with a bottle of mashke if people want to make a little lechaim, but that's about it.”