midrash

[ Sephardic Hebrew mee-drahsh; Ashkenazic Hebrew mi-drahsh ]
/ Sephardic Hebrew miˈdrɑʃ; Ashkenazic Hebrew ˈmɪ drɑʃ /

noun, plural mid·ra·shim [Sephardic Hebrew mee-drah-sheem; Ashkenazic Hebrew mi-draw-shim] /Sephardic Hebrew mi drɑˈʃim; Ashkenazic Hebrew mɪˈdrɔ ʃɪm/, mid·ra·shoth, mid·ra·shot, mid·ra·shos [Sephardic Hebrew mee-drah-shawt; Ashkenazic Hebrew mi-draw-shohs] /Sephardic Hebrew mi drɑˈʃɔt; Ashkenazic Hebrew mɪˈdrɔ ʃoʊs/.

an early Jewish interpretation of or commentary on a Biblical text, clarifying or expounding a point of law or developing or illustrating a moral principle.
(initial capital letter) a collection of such interpretations or commentaries, especially those written in the first ten centuries a.d.

Origin of midrash

First recorded in 1605–15, midrash is from the Hebrew word midrāsh literally, exposition

OTHER WORDS FROM midrash

mid·rash·ic [mid-rash-ik] /mɪdˈræʃ ɪk/, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for midrash

midrash
/ (ˈmɪdræʃ, Hebrew miˈdraʃ) /

noun plural midrashim (mɪˈdrɔʃɪm, Hebrew midraˈʃim) Judaism

a homily on a scriptural passage derived by traditional Jewish exegetical methods and consisting usually of embellishment of the scriptural narrative
one of a number of collections of such homilies composed between 400 and 1200 ad

Derived forms of midrash

midrashic (mɪdˈræʃɪk), adjective

Word Origin for midrash

C17: from Hebrew: commentary, from darash to search