The Hebrew word for “school” is בֵּית סֵפֶר (pronounced beit sefer):
- בֵּית (beit) – This means “house” and is commonly used in compound words to indicate a place.
- סֵפֶר (sefer) – This means “book.”
- בֵּית סֵפֶר is a construct form (סְמִיכוּת), where two nouns are combined, with the first noun modifying the second. The plural form is בָּתֵי סֵפֶר (batei sefer), meaning “schools.”
Together, בֵּית סֵפֶר literally translates to “house of books”.
