tanna

[ Sephardic Hebrew tah-nah; Ashkenazic Hebrew, English tah-nah ]
/ Sephardic Hebrew tɑˈnɑ; Ashkenazic Hebrew, English ˈtɑ nɑ /

noun, plural tan·na·im [Sephardic Hebrew tah-nah-eem; Ashkenazic Hebrew, English tah-nah-im] /Sephardic Hebrew tɑ nɑˈim; Ashkenazic Hebrew, English tɑˈnɑ ɪm/. (often initial capital letter) Judaism.

one of a group of Jewish scholars, active in Palestine during the 1st and 2nd centuries a.d., whose teachings are found chiefly in the Mishnah.
Compare amora, sabora.

Origin of tanna

From the Hebrew word tannā teacher

OTHER WORDS FROM tanna

tan·na·i·tic [tah-nuh-it-ik] /ˌtɑ nəˈɪt ɪk/, adjective

Words nearby tanna

tanked, tanker, tankful, tankini, tankship, tanna, tannage, tannate, tannenbaum, tannenberg, tanner

Example sentences from the Web for tannaim

  • Meir, whom we take as representative of the third generation of Tannaim, was filled with the widest sympathies.

    Chapters on Jewish Literature |Israel Abrahams

  • Akiba, who may be taken to represent the second generation of Tannaim, differed in character from Jochanan.

    Chapters on Jewish Literature |Israel Abrahams