Sarah

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A common female first name of Hebrew origin meaning princess
2. Used as a personal name for women, often signifying a noble or respected character
3. A female given name traditionally associated with biblical and historical figures

Etymology: The most striking thing about this name is that it was once a different name entirely. In the Hebrew Bible, the wife of Abraham was first called Sarai, a name that is related to a word meaning "masters" or "princes." When God renamed her, the new form, Sarah, took on the sense of "lady" or "princess," so the change from Sarai to Sarah shifted her title from a plural of rank to a singular noun for a noblewoman. The name thus traces back to the Biblical Hebrew "śārâ," which carried the sense "lady, princess," and its meaning has stayed remarkably stable across the millennia of its use. Because it appears in the Hebrew Bible as the name of a foundational matriarch, it spread widely through Jewish, Christian, and later Islamic tradition, which helps explain its enduring popularity across many languages.

Synonyms: princess, lady