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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
shib·bo·leth    Audio Help   [shib-uh-lith, ‑leth] Pronunciation Key
–noun
1.a peculiarity of pronunciation, behavior, mode of dress, etc., that distinguishes a particular class or set of persons.
2.a slogan; catchword.
3.a common saying or belief with little current meaning or truth.

[Origin: < Heb shibbōleth lit., freshet, a word used by the Gileadites as a test to detect the fleeing Ephraimites, who could not pronounce the sound sh (Judges 12:4–6)]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
shibboleth

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
shib·bo·leth    Audio Help   (shĭb'ə-lĭth, -lěth')  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
  1. A word or pronunciation that distinguishes people of one group or class from those of another.
    1. A word or phrase identified with a particular group or cause; a catchword.
    2. A commonplace saying or idea.
  2. A custom or practice that betrays one as an outsider.


[Ultimately from Hebrew šibbōlet, torrent of water, from the use of this word to distinguish one tribe from another that pronounced it sibbōlet (Judges 12:4-6).]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
shibboleth 
1382, the Heb. word shibboleth "flood, stream," also "ear of corn," in Judges xii:4-6. It was the password used by the Gileadites to distinguish their own men from fleeing Ephraimites, because Ephraimites could not pronounce the -sh- sound. Figurative sense of "watchword" is first recorded 1638, and it evolved by 1862 to "outmoded slogan still adhered to." A similar test-word was cicera "chick pease," used by the Italians to identify the French (who could not pronounce it correctly) during the massacre called the Sicilian Vespers (1282).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
shibboleth

noun
1. a favorite saying of a sect or political group [syn: motto
2. a manner of speaking that is distinctive of a particular group of people 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
shibboleth [(shib-uh-luhth, shib-uh-leth)]

In the Old Testament, shibboleth was a password used by the Israelites. It was chosen because their enemies could not pronounce it.

Note: By extension, a shibboleth is an often-repeated slogan. It also means an arbitrary test to prove membership in a group.

[Chapter:] The Bible


The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Shibboleth

Shib"bo*leth\, n. [Heb. shibb[=o]leth an ear of corn, or a stream, a flood.]

1. A word which was made the criterion by which to distinguish the Ephraimites from the Gileadites. The Ephraimites, not being able to pronounce sh, called the word sibboleth. See --Judges xii.

Without reprieve, adjudged to death, For want of well pronouncing shibboleth. --Milton. Also in an extended sense.

The th, with its twofold value, is . . . the shibboleth of foreigners. --Earle.

2. Hence, the criterion, test, or watchword of a party; a party cry or pet phrase.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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