Deborah

Deborah

See also: Déborah

English

Alternative forms

• (as a given name): Debra, Debora

Etymology

From Hebrew דְבוֹרָה‎ (dvorá), meaning bee.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdɛb(ə)ɹə/

Proper noun

Deborah (plural Deborahs)

1. A judge of Israel; a nurse of Rebecca.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Judges 4:4:

     :

     And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time.

2. A female given name, popular from the 1940s to the 1970s, first in the USA, then in the UK.
   • 1851 James Brayshay: The Protector of Houghall, Or the Lily and the Rose. Groombridge and Sons, 1851. Act I:

     Rapier. Heigho! Deborah! it's an ugly name, a damnable name - the name I mean! - it sounds like Gomorrah! Deb! Debby! - worse still - sounded sharp now I rather like it! - Deborah! Deborah! Deborah!

   • 1995 Carl Hiaasen: Stormy Weather. Alfred A.Knopf,Inc. →ISBN page 256:

     He hadn't known, for example, that her middle name was Deborah. It was a name he liked: plucky, Midwestern and reliable-sounding. He was willing to bet that if you went through every women's prison in America, you wouldn't find a half-dozen Deborahs.

Related terms

• Deb
• Debbie
• Debby

Translations

biblical character

Dutch: Debora (nl) f Finnish: Debora French: Débora (fr) Hawaiian: Debora Hebrew: דְבוֹרָה‎ (he) (dvorá) Italian: Debora (it)

Latin: Debora Maore Comorian: Debora Portuguese: Débora (pt) f Russian: Дево́ра f (Devóra), Дебо́ра (ru) f (Debóra), Дево́рра f (Devórra) Spanish: Débora (es)

female given name

French: Déborah (fr) Greenlandic: Tippu Hawaiian: Kepola Hebrew: דְבוֹרָה‎ (he) (dvorá)

Italian: Debora (it) Portuguese: Débora (pt) f Russian: Дебо́ра (ru) f (Debóra), Дево́ра f (Devóra) Spanish: Débora (es)

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Cebuano

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: de‧bo‧rah

Noun

Deborah

1. a female given name
2. (biblical) Deborah