: the god of destruction and regeneration in the Hindu sacred triad compare brahma entry 1, vishnu
variants
or less commonly shivah
or Shiva
or Shivah
: a traditional seven-day period of mourning the death of a family member that is observed in Jewish homes
Details about the funeral and shiva have not yet been finalized.—
Alyssa Fisher
Alyssa FisherThe observance of Shiva is traced to the dawn of Jewish history. The Torah relates that Joseph mourned the death of Jacob his father for seven days.—Zalman Goldstein
—often used in the phrase sit shiva
Zalman GoldsteinWe're going to say kaddish, sit shiva and eat poundcake for a week—Gary David Goldberg
Gary David GoldbergShe's sitting shivah for her father. She doesn't want to be disturbed.—Etgar Keret
Etgar Keret… the comedy centers on a dysfunctional family that is forced to reunite when their father requests they sit Shivah for seven days following his death.—Dave Trumbore
Dave TrumboreExamples of Shiva in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the WebBrian Tallerico, Vulture, 11 June 2024
The Milky Way’s earliest pieces In a recent paper, researchers using the Gaia space telescope identified two streams of stars, named Shakti and Shiva, each of which contains a total mass of around 10 million Suns and which are thought to have merged into the Milky Way around 12 billion years ago.
—Georgina Torbet, Ars Technica, 10 June 2024
The tablet, depicting the Hindu god Shiva with his wife and children, had been stolen, Slok Gyawali of the Nepal Pride Project told 5280 magazine in 2021.
—Sam Tabachnik, The Denver Post, 10 June 2024
Hrudaya Reddy and her husband Shiva Vanamala traveled here from San Francisco, Calif.
—Pien Huang, NPR, 26 May 2024
The objects — a tall bronze figure called the Standing Shiva or Golden Boy and a smaller sculpture called Kneeling Female — are thought to be around 1,000 years old.
—Jerry Harmer, Fortune Asia, 22 May 2024
Her other credits include Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby, Netflix’s You People, Adam McKay’s HBO series Winning Time, Olivia Wilde’s Booksmart, Gene Supnitsky and Lee Eisenberg’s Good Boys, Ben Falcone’s Life of the Party, TNT’s Animal Kingdom, and the FX series Ramy.
—Etan Vlessing, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 May 2024
The series, created by Muslim filmmaker Ali Abbas Zafar, featured a scene in which a character, played by Muslim actor Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, portrayed the Hindu God Shiva.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 9 May 2024
There’s always pressure to meet financial targets, Shiva Rajgopal, a professor of accounting and auditing at Columbia Business School, told me.
—Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 2 May 2024
Emily Listfield, Harper's BAZAAR, 13 Apr. 2023
However, on the unexpected death of Tamás’s wife (Ágnes Máhr), Iván, who had become religious in Israel in the meantime, decides to move into Tamás’s apartment and, in accordance with Jewish traditions, spend a week of mourning and shiva.
—Marina Lazarevska, Variety, 16 Aug. 2022
The funeral was expected to be live-streamed, with a shiva to follow.
—Grace Hauck, USA TODAY, 8 July 2022
Largely a single-setting comedy, the film unfolds at a shiva attended by Danielle (Rachel Sennott), a bisexual Jewish woman whose house of cards is about to come tumbling down in front of everyone when her sugar daddy (Danny Deferrari) shows up with his wife (Dianna Agron).
—Brian Tallerico, Vulture, 13 May 2022
After shiva comes shloshim, a period of less intense mourning in which observant Jews leave the home but continue to observe some restrictions, like avoiding music and dancing.
—New York Times, 10 Aug. 2021
The dress code for a memorial service or shiva is less formal, but show respect for the occasion, says Diane Gottsman of the Protocol School of Texas.
—Debby Waldman, Wired, 17 Mar. 2021
For Mile End's Tietolman, the deli is always there for people, from the start of life at a bris to the end of life at a shiva.
—Noah Sheidlower and Radhika Marya, CNN, 7 Nov. 2021
The closeness at the shiva, with everyone crowding into small corners in small rooms, is clearly a wet heat.
—Helen Shaw, Vulture, 1 Apr. 2021
Noun
Bodied watch on prime video Bottoms Year: 2023 Runtime: 1h 31m
Director: Emma Seligman
The writer/director of Shiva Baby avoided the sophomore slump with a film that feels completely different.
—Brian Tallerico, Vulture, 11 June 2024
The Milky Way’s earliest pieces In a recent paper, researchers using the Gaia space telescope identified two streams of stars, named Shakti and Shiva, each of which contains a total mass of around 10 million Suns and which are thought to have merged into the Milky Way around 12 billion years ago.
—Georgina Torbet, Ars Technica, 10 June 2024
The tablet, depicting the Hindu god Shiva with his wife and children, had been stolen, Slok Gyawali of the Nepal Pride Project told 5280 magazine in 2021.
—Sam Tabachnik, The Denver Post, 10 June 2024
Hrudaya Reddy and her husband Shiva Vanamala traveled here from San Francisco, Calif.
—Pien Huang, NPR, 26 May 2024
The objects — a tall bronze figure called the Standing Shiva or Golden Boy and a smaller sculpture called Kneeling Female — are thought to be around 1,000 years old.
—Jerry Harmer, Fortune Asia, 22 May 2024
Her other credits include Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby, Netflix’s You People, Adam McKay’s HBO series Winning Time, Olivia Wilde’s Booksmart, Gene Supnitsky and Lee Eisenberg’s Good Boys, Ben Falcone’s Life of the Party, TNT’s Animal Kingdom, and the FX series Ramy.
—Etan Vlessing, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 May 2024
The series, created by Muslim filmmaker Ali Abbas Zafar, featured a scene in which a character, played by Muslim actor Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, portrayed the Hindu God Shiva.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 9 May 2024
There’s always pressure to meet financial targets, Shiva Rajgopal, a professor of accounting and auditing at Columbia Business School, told me.
—Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 2 May 2024
Noun
Later that week, at my mother’s shiva, her friends laughed and traded stories about her determination, resilience, and gift for reinvention.
—Emily Listfield, Harper's BAZAAR, 13 Apr. 2023
However, on the unexpected death of Tamás’s wife (Ágnes Máhr), Iván, who had become religious in Israel in the meantime, decides to move into Tamás’s apartment and, in accordance with Jewish traditions, spend a week of mourning and shiva.
—Marina Lazarevska, Variety, 16 Aug. 2022
The funeral was expected to be live-streamed, with a shiva to follow.
—Grace Hauck, USA TODAY, 8 July 2022
Largely a single-setting comedy, the film unfolds at a shiva attended by Danielle (Rachel Sennott), a bisexual Jewish woman whose house of cards is about to come tumbling down in front of everyone when her sugar daddy (Danny Deferrari) shows up with his wife (Dianna Agron).
—Brian Tallerico, Vulture, 13 May 2022
After shiva comes shloshim, a period of less intense mourning in which observant Jews leave the home but continue to observe some restrictions, like avoiding music and dancing.
—New York Times, 10 Aug. 2021
The dress code for a memorial service or shiva is less formal, but show respect for the occasion, says Diane Gottsman of the Protocol School of Texas.
—Debby Waldman, Wired, 17 Mar. 2021
For Mile End's Tietolman, the deli is always there for people, from the start of life at a bris to the end of life at a shiva.
—Noah Sheidlower and Radhika Marya, CNN, 7 Nov. 2021
The closeness at the shiva, with everyone crowding into small corners in small rooms, is clearly a wet heat.
—Helen Shaw, Vulture, 1 Apr. 2021
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'Shiva.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near Shiva
Cite this Entry
“Shiva.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Shiva. Accessed 2 Jul. 2024.
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