Chumash

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A member of an indigenous people historically inhabiting the Santa Barbara Channel region of California ; the five books of Moses in Jewish scripture
2. One of the native inhabitants of the southern California coast near present-day Santa Barbara ; the Jewish biblical text comprising the first five books of the Hebrew Bible
3. A person from the Chumash nation that lived along the California coast ; the Torah, which forms the foundation of Jewish religious law and practice

Etymology: English has two unrelated words spelled "chumash." The Hebrew "khamishah" means "five," and the Hebrew "khumash," built on it, refers to the five books of Moses that open the Hebrew Bible. Yiddish adopted it as "khumesh," and English took it from Yiddish, so the term usually means a printed edition of the Torah, often with commentary. The other "chumash" is a name for people. It comes from the Ineseño language of the Santa Barbara Channel region of California, where "čʰumaš" means "the Santa Barbara Channel Island people." The name designates the Indigenous people of that coastline and its islands, and the coincidence in spelling is the only link between the two words.