Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Yiddish ·1960s
Maven
from meyvn
- Meaning
- An expert, one who understands — from Hebrew *mebin*, "one who understands."
- Source word
- meyvn
- Route into English
- Yiddish → American English. Popularised by a 1964 Vita Herring advertising campaign starring "The Beloved Herring Maven" before spreading to wider expert usage.
- Arrived
- 1960s
From Yiddish
Mass migration from Ashkenazi Eastern Europe to New York (1880–1920) funnelled Yiddish into American English, from where it diffused globally.
English borrows.
Browse the full loanword atlas or explore another source language.