rachamim means mercy, compassion. It carries an Arena rating of 1605, earned across 10 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, rachamim ranks #259 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #3,376 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #3,687 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #5,450 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words.
Why “rachamim” is a great word
A deep, visceral, and protective form of mercy or compassion that tempers strict judgment. Borrowed from Hebrew רַחֲמִים (rakhamím, "mercy, compassion"), the plural form of רֶחֶם (rechem, "womb"), thus deriving from a root conveying the sense of a mother's protective, visceral love. Unlike "justice," which is the cold geometry of impartial law, or "grace," which can imply an unmerited or elegant gift, rachamim is the warm, lenient shelter offered where justice would demand a harder outcome. It is the withheld punishment, the blanket draped over shaking shoulders, the instinctive curve of an arm around a sobbing child—the quiet insistence that we are all born of the same soft, breakable flesh.
Etymology
Borrowed from Hebrew רַחֲמִים (rakhamím).
noun
- Mercy, compassion.e.g.“Israel has the attribute of rachamim, which is why we didn't fulfill God's command to wipe out the Seven Nations, and not to make treaties with them.” — 2002 July 29, Jonathan K. Baker, “A little help with a debate?”, in soc.culture.jewish.moderated (Usenet):
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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