sit shiva

verb

To take part in the shiva mourning ritual.

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Meanings

verbsit shiva (third-person singular simple present sits shiva, present participle sitting shiva, simple past and past participle sat shiva)

present singular third person sits shiva · participle present sitting shiva · participle past sat shiva · past sat shiva

  1. JudaismTo take part in the shiva mourning ritual.

    Did you know that some parents sit shiva […] for 30 days if their child is discovered to be gay?

    1974 February 2, “Jewish Gay Group”, in Gay Community News, volume 1, number 32, page 2

Origin

Partial calque of Yiddish שבֿעה זיצן (shive zitsn, “to sit shiva”).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

sit shiva. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sit%20shiva

MLA

“sit shiva.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sit%20shiva. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sit shiva,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sit%20shiva.

Source: sit shiva on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.