Gaon

Definition

A sage of the Talmudic academies of Babylonia

Etymology

From Hebrew גָּאוֹן (ga'ón, “grandeur, majesty, genius”).

Example Sentences

• "1991, Joseph Telushkin, Jewish Literacy http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&id=5mR5jX70oqwC&pg=PA230&lpg=PA230&sig=efbu3LMM7kVUrIzfWghTlqOeIXQ The Gaon also was distressed by the veneration the Hasidim accorded their rabbinic leaders, men whom the Gaon generally regarded as ignoramuses."
• "Like the hasidim, he too refused the title of rabbi, adopting the ancient title of Gaon."
• "1997, Moshe Gil, A History of Palestine http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&id=M0wUKoMJeccC&pg=PA531&lpg=PA531&sig=ffm2drYu_SPO-Cgn9eM32oW2rhM The Gaon also mentions a letter he has received from Ḥasan as-ʻĀqūlī (al-ʻĀqūla, the ancient Aramaic name for Kūfa) undoubtedly one of the emigrants from Iraq to Egypt whom the Gaon knew.."