פולמוס

• פּוּלְמוֹס, פּוּלְמוּס, פֻּלְמוֹס, פּוֹלֶמוֹס

Borrowed from Ancient Greek πόλεμος (pólemos, “war”).

• (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /polˈmos/

פּוֹלְמוֹס • (polmós) m (plural indefinite פּוֹלְמוֹסִים)

1. (Mishnaic Hebrew) war, especially with the Romans
   • a. 217 C.E., Mishnah. Sotah, section 9.14:

     בַּפֻּלְמוֹס שֶׁל אַסְפַּסְיָנוּס גָּזְרוּ עַל עַטְרוֹת חֲתָנִים, וְעַל הָאֵרוּס. בַּפֻּלְמוֹס שֶׁל טִיטוּס גָּזְרוּ עַל עַטְרוֹת כַּלּוֹת, וְשֶׁלֹא יְלַמֵּד אָדָם אֶת בְּנוֹ יְוָנִית. בַּפֻּלְמוֹס הָאַחֲרוֹן גָּזְרוּ שֶׁלֹּא תֵצֵא הַכַּלָּה בָּאַפִּרְיוֹן בְּתוֹךְ הָעִיר, וְרַבּוֹתֵינוּ הִתִּירוּ שֶׁתֵּצֵא הַכַּלָּה בָּאַפִּרְיוֹן בְּתוֹךְ הָעִיר:

     During the war with Vespasian they [the rabbis] decreed against [the use of] crowns worn by bridegrooms and against [the use of] the bell. During the war with Quietus they decreed against [the use of] crowns worn by brides and that nobody should teach their child Greek. During the final war they decreed that a bride should not go out in a palanquin inside the city, but our rabbis decreed that a bride may go out in a palanquin inside the city.

   • a. 425 C.E., Jerusalem Talmud. Avodah Zarah, section 1.2:

     רִבִּי יוֹחָנָן לֹא אָמַר כֵּן. אֶלָּא מַלְכוּת מִצְרַיִם וּמַלְכוּת רוֹמֵי הָיוּ עוֹשִׂין מִלְחָמָה אֵילּוּ עִם אֵילּוּ. אָֽמְרוּ. עַד מָתַי אָנוּ הוֹרְגִין בְּפּוֹלֶמוֹס זֶה עִם זֶה?

     Rabbi Johanan does not say so; but the empire of Egypt and the empire of Rome were fighting with one another. They said, how long are we killing one another in this war?

This noun has many variant spellings, with the first syllable sometimes instead being a shuruk, or the shva a segol.

• Klein, Ernest (1987) “פּוּלְמוֹס”, in A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English‎^[1], Jerusalem: Carta, →ISBN, page 497b
• Jastrow, Marcus (1903) A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature‎^[2], London, New York: Luzac & Co., G.P. Putnam's Sons, page 1142a