chiyuv

C3H4I1Y4U1V4

noun

An obligation.

Scrabble 17

Meanings

nounchiyuv (plural chiyuvim)

plural chiyuvim

  1. JudaismAn obligation.

    Is there an inyan or chiyuv to bury the entire body together, or is it OK to have body parts buried in two separate locations?

    2011 January 30, “Burying Amputated Limbs with Body”, in Ask The Rabbi - Dinonline
    2 more examples

    When you're engaged, you have a chiyuv to set up your friends too. You might not have anybody in mind for your friends before you're engaged, but once you are, you obtain a special power that makes it possible to sense a good shidduch when you see one.

    2002 May 15, Harry Weiss, “60 ways to be a frummie”, in soc.culture.jewish.moderated (Usenet)

    When it comes to a person's freedom of action in Judaism, there are only chiyuvim and issurim, and everything else is up to the individual.

    2005 March 24, Lisa, “Force feeding geese for pate”, in soc.culture.jewish.moderated (Usenet)
  2. JudaismA mourner who is obligated to say Kaddish.

    When I was a chiyuv (saying kaddish for my father, a'h, and thus leading prayers almost every day), I asked my LOR whether I should continue my practice, or adopt the more standard version. He told me that my version was an acceptable variant within the shul's own accepted nusach.

    2000 November 3, Eliot Shimoff, “Liturgical issues -- in the spirit of Conservative Judaism”, in soc.culture.jewish.moderated (Usenet)

Origin

  1. Hebrewחִיּוּב
  2. Englishchiyuv

Borrowed from Hebrew חִיּוּב.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

chiyuv. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chiyuv

MLA

“chiyuv.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chiyuv. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “chiyuv,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chiyuv.

Source: chiyuv on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.