Proofreading Service - Pain in the English
Proofreading Service - Pain in the English

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Proofreading Service - Pain in the English
Proofreading Service - Pain in the English

Your Pain Is Our Pleasure

24-Hour Proofreading Service—We proofread your Google Docs or Microsoft Word files. We hate grammatical errors with a passion. Learn More

Jedi

I’m wondering if George Lucas just made this word up. I found that sith was from the celtic word “sidhe” meaning “fairy, especially one that conjures dead spirits.”

It seems really random that Sith would mean something and that Jedi would be meaningless.

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i think it's from the japanese 'jidai-geki' meaning 'swordplay' or something to that effect. id on't know japanese but that's what they call samurai movies.

Alex1 Apr-18-2005

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'Sith' is an alternate Gaelic spelling of 'sídhe' (which is trickily pronounced like English 'she'). The word itself is understood to mean "people of the fairy hills" (the hills themselves originally being called 'síde', singular 'síd'). I would, however, consider it unlikely - other names translate as 'good people' or 'people of peace'.

According to what Wikipedia has to say about the fandom, it would appear that the fictional Sith were, in SW canon, the name of a humanoid race enslaved by a cadre of rogue jedi. These particular individuals happen to have a strong affinity for the force, which may tally with borrowing the Sídhe. Other, similar references could be the Mon Calamari (think the fishy-looking one in /Return of the Jedi/) or the Katoonians and Nikto (nicked from a movie quote).

For all that, though, I think that it's most likely coincidence. The mispronunciation alone would suggest as much, as would other seeming references being far, far less subtle.

Wikipedia articles:
Sith - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sith
Star Wars races - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor_races_in_Star_Wars
Klaatu barada nikto - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaatu_barada_nikto

Persephone_Imytholin Apr-18-2005

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...and I think I missed the point of the original post. Oh well. :)

Persephone_Imytholin Apr-18-2005

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BTW a jidaigeki is a historical play.
Jidai - period in history
Geki - Play or drama
But this belongs on paininthejapanese.com

IngisKahn1 Apr-18-2005

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okay, yeah. It makes sense that Jedi would be from an east asian language. Espeically with what Persephone says about the names of the other races.

Thanks a bundle, y'all.

Andrew1 Apr-18-2005

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Hi u guys!
The word Jedi might come from the Hedrew word for Knowledge - Yeda. A man of knowledge would be Yadaee or Yadai and using an English transcript - a Jedi. Using this single word that means "a man of knowledge" is not common, but it is sure enough a proper Hebrew word.

Michael2 Feb-19-2006

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Having perused paininthehebrew.com, i find it very unlikely that Jedi is a transcription of Yadai. This is only because someone you would call a Yadai and a jedi can be compared to one another only laughably. Then again, maybe i shouldn't assume such towering standards of accuracy for George Lucas

A_O Feb-20-2006

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a o wrote:
"Having perused paininthehebrew.com, i find it very unlikely that Jedi is a transcription of Yadai."
Well, I could not find any site named paininthehebrew.com on the net but luckily for me, having been born in Israel I speak Hebrew quite well. I know very little of transcription ruses and whats not but I did notice a tendency to convert the Hebrew "Yud" (or "Yod") into a the English "J". Thus the name "Yehuda" becomes "Judas" for instance, and Yehudi becomes a "Jew". Hence - transforming a "Yadai" into a "Jedi" does not seem to be such a far fetched idea.

Michael2 Feb-27-2006

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Wow, so what does "Yoda" mean?

anonymous4 Feb-27-2006

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Well hahaha but guys my name IS Jedi and im struggling 2 find its meaning.not much help here huh but please i dowanna know nothin bout star wars n all..the REAL meaning eh!if anybody can send it to my email add,id b very pleased

jediazania Mar-29-2006

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Yeah, Michael, your observation that the Hebrew yud gets transcribed in English as "j" is an accurate one. I still hold that the posit that Jedi is a version of Yadai is a sticky one. This is only my opinion, but I really don't think that George Lucas was going for Jewish themes in his movies. Plus, if you think about it, the movies are all about buddhism (not that im an expert on buddhism). The dark side and the light side are like materialism and asceticism. "Yoda," i believe, is some specific buddhist title. I can only guess that Jedi is also such.

A_O Mar-30-2006

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Lucas got the word Jedi, like the other guys said, from "Jidaigeki" meaning period piece/play. Lucas was a fan of Akira Kurosawa, a filmmaker from Japan. Kurosawa made quite a few Jidaigeki.

bandaros May-02-2006

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:( my name is yadai and i never knew what it means

Yadai Jul-04-2006

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My name is Yadai too.
Yadai means friend of god or beloved of god.

Yadai Aug-08-2006

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It has come to me through my teachings that the word Jedi, was in fact translated in Hebrew as having the meaning: "beloved by God". Now, that is obviously not the case, as Yadai has that translation. Now, given that the J was transcribed in English, well that to me would make all the sense in the world, but who knows these things when you are not in the mind of George Lucas?

A O, you are partially right about the budhism reference in your post. Jedi are actually a mixture of the Shaolin Monk, Samurai fighter, Medieval Knight among other things. For the official article/interview with George Lucas, take a look at www.templeofthejediorder.org. Its in the Smart FAQ section. Pretty interesting reads there. As it were, light and dark elements not only apply to buddhist principles, but in fact to EVERY major religion and spiritual following in the world. In Christianity its God and Satan just as an example. As a Christian, I am VERY familiar with this struggle.

So, back to my point, and back to this discussion: Where on Earth did anyone come up with the Hebrew translation of Jedi meaning: Beloved by God?

rachat Dec-01-2006

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jedi means Jesus Desciple
http://jahtruth.net/starwar.htm

Gary1 Jun-06-2007

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Yeah, seriously, since when does Yadai mean "beloved of God" in Hebrew? Yadai has root yd', which means "know" as in the verb lada'at, to know. Yadati - I knew, Yadata - you knew, etc. Duh guys, come on. Yadai means "smart dude."

AO Jun-06-2007

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The name Yadael means Knowledge of God, not beloved bye God, same prefix as AO mentioned, but then I just looked this up on a baby-naming website

anonymous4 Jun-07-2007

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oops, thats ...by.... not ...bye...

anonymous4 Jun-07-2007

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Can some one please tell me what does Yoda mean?

Neros Oct-05-2007

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do you guys know anything about film making? its always an exparament. japanese film makers like kurosowa have a style where diologue is not used to explain aspectes of the mese en scene its done that way on purpose so it stimulates your mind, and keeps your backside in the seat. Phylosophy would dictate that jedi means sordplay or keeper of great knowledge or what ever you want it to mean. thats the point. also, its not like the guy wrote all the scripts at one time. he is a producer after episode 4 thus, not even writing any of the other scripts himself meaning with his unexpendable wealth generated by box office, merchindising, ILM and THX audio he can put a hundred of R&D people to work 24-7 just to come up with anything he wants to brainchild in preproduction. thus, sith not being invented until the late 80's when some one found him this celtic word or did he just love that author of the research of fable and epic corolations throughout all aincent stories so much that he met him and discussed such things. any way while we're still at the end of the third age of man I would suggest writing your own stories to tell around the fire cause thats where we're all heading again. the material god rules here not the devine mind and its everwatching eye it is always important to know which one you serve. Remember it is very possible that lucas is a rosicurrian the usc/berkly equivelent to what bush is from at yale but the rossicurians don't desend from german mysticism and material worship. thus the reverse engineres from cal tec working at locheed. there is a specific reason howard hughs is storing his urine in jars it's incase the cia trys to kill him with poison. wonder what he was exposed to around 1947? don't you people know that thomas edison was not the nice grandfather image you think of him as huxley should have said A.E. not A.F. edison invented corporate espionage sent his people out like the CIA sends jackels oh wait there all the same thing history of the western myths. appolonious a person who perpetuates the only successful roman slave revolt. the apostle mark burns the libary of alexandria thus stopping the material worshipers by inslaving man w/ there kept patrician knowledge. the levites become trojans then arcadeans then catars then pilgrams see the people who destroy the establishment build it back up and turn it into the same thing as before. well the pilgrams owned your country until edison invents the light bulb making karosene worthless excess funding flows towards a guy tring to monopolize refinement in ohio then T.E. gives his other anti zionist hard working employee card blanc to come up with his qudracycle making their friend in cleveland fulfill a prophacy that other alchamists and essoterics had ben tring to figure out for 3500 years some names including arcamedies euclid devinche flamel newton all these men spent more time trying to become the wealthest and most powerful king on earth by turning lead into gold but it is john d. who cracks that code with some help from his old frind machevelli another decendent of zion any way these three men alone challenged the butter the mayflower folks had mustered over time. old john d didn't father the nwo it was edisons brain child. jdr then destabilized the weakest links of lady victoria's mob and many members of the house of lords who wanted to make a better living off of oil than their land. then they all fund the third rich to stop zionism having another burning of the library of alexandria so to speak. the wolf crosses the rhine jdr embargos japan then they cut the funding to capture let it fizzel a boy from iowa dies at normundy to realize it was all for someone elses title and control over mineral rights and more importantly the dutce credit company which controls 80%of the worlds equidity which is where machavelli tells you where the butters really at. any way when its all over they fund cia which learns its trade not from the brits but from the nastiest of edsons employees. see anti trust laws in 1911 7mill to lennon in 1917 when jdr gives everything to his son to save it form being tax raped. destabalizes wilsons alies and grasps the levors of industry for ever nelson speaker of house when giving the mony to create nato a decoy for what the league of nations was supposed to be which the evill three subsequently destroyed. the trade center was built by who? how much gold was in the basement gold standerd gone theocratic societies iran the last one production stabelizes your currency. oil is needed for every aspect of production consumption. hubberts peak past atlantic and pacific conveyer soon do be a memory you only use 10% of your brain aliens exsist read the bible the mahabratta ledgens of chin dynasty greek myths egyption old kingdom anthropology interpereted by brits who have there own adgenda david soloman and rebel jesus hybred achalies alexander hybred you think the trojan war was faught over a woman just like you beleive the civil war was faught over slavery the bulshivicka just happend to rise up in odessa 9 mil in moscow bank sitting there for the strongest to claim just like you belive russia was a thereat and same w/ bin laden who funds and arms such people at the 52 parell the man made mountians fall to the earth in the age of the great adultorer the war not seen at first a days wages for a quart of grain even in the great new nation people will be reduced to canabolisim nostrodamus and shakespere and hugo had books they pulled their butter from the reincernated son of michel orson wells was wrong its not a nuclear war but a troposopheric world w/ posphoric stagnit seas the conveyer gone so long screwey see you in St. louie edison stole the camera from the lumiers' so you think lucas made starwars to entertain you. or prepare us none of us will see the fourth age of man where we will live with them they it. stream of conciousness ended kept your backside in the seat. I wonder what does go on in Lucas' mind

anonymous4 Feb-27-2008

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plato said democracy autocracy facisism
huxly a eutopian society can only exist if you control the birth rate and keep it in balance w/ production we will soon be the wilderness blue skies on mars nasa has been censored you best know ani's code for balancing the scales
even my mom was a doll for dole even he reads the necronomican in a capitolist society machivelli holds the keys to the kingdom but it wont matter now cause there's not enough time george lucas george lucas george lucas write your own stories change your world epicurian philosophy will be all thats left where bush was raised demosthenes represents the illusion of democracy the devil represents the illusion of punishment in the afterlife don quetoe represents the illusion of chivelery don't fight wind mills the pope represents the illusion of religous dogma what's the other figure that sits down on thursdays bush underwent the same cerimony lazerous did when he became known as john not died art is lost in the translation you use 10% of your brain you need these illusions earth has alot of things other people might want like the whole planet and maybe these folks would like to see a few changes made like more carbon di oxide in the atmosphere and room for their way of life you've seen this happen before right in these united states your way of life destroyed the indian way indian reservation thats you humans my own position is to extenguish i'm with the invaders no use in trying to hide that and at the same time i dissegre with some of the things they are doing oh we're not united any more than you are conservitive faction is set on nuclear war as a solution to the antipersonel element others dissagree I don't claim that my motives are 100% humaine but i do say if we cant think of anything quieter and tider than that then were not all that much better than you earthlings there is no place else to go the theater is closed cut word lines cut music lines smash the control images smash the control machine

anonymous4 Feb-28-2008

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they burried me in that huge cemetary in st. Louis watch out for the fault line its comming before the caps go lucas was just giving you people rossicurian philosophy and what do you think he is really telling us in those prequils ultimate power and there will be peace it's all an illusion just like those films don't let the angels put the sowrd in your hands love is the opposite of power time is an illusion that is here for our benifit not pain love each other there is not much time for anything else embrase the nothingness and achive enlightenment prepare yourself for all that we are about to loose and will have to build again be thankfull you're in the late stages zoaster and atilia wouldn't have been a fun time stop the calvinist capitolist strangelhold that has everyone blinded w/ greed. go to a mountian kneel and meditate like others before you and tell isis and the devine mind you are sorry in a formal act of contrition love while you can it is the purpose for the illusion turn off the dvd player peace and good will to all of you goodnight.

burroughs Feb-28-2008

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the first amendment was conceived so that we would have intelectual freedom only to see that free capitolism leaves no room for democracy and or religious identy your intelectuals are censord now the virtical intigreation of the media leaves the fm stations where they can't even play imagine you can't put certian things in the minds of the children cia made dylan go electric and get criptic lucas has to disguise his true message in a hokey fairy tail civics and latin were removed from the schools regan was not in charge nixon was not in charge peanut farmer saw an alien and had a j w/ willie nelson ontop of the whit house while t-rex played children of the revolution kennedy was new mony and not apart of the knowledge i just divulged birlin wall under his watch benzidene dreem coctail from dr. dope has nikita banging shoe then the people who gave him virginia get pissed after castro says there will be no gangsters in this revolution remember it only means to change the way you think not violence che was wrong there are and can be bloodless paper revolutions the real mona lisa was given back by jacky o c-mon people lucas wants you to use your time more wisely I love you all that is why I wrote this. and why I write a great many other things may all who read these streams of conciousness embrace peace and plenty and most important LOVE in these remaining years before the fall of romes revival good will to all of you and now truely good night

love Feb-28-2008

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the calvinist autocrates that represent the .0000000001% on earth percived kennedy as the anti christ. you know good looking in w/ the vatican and the mob who I will remind you was in bed w/ the .00000000001% since ww2 now they have concessions like sprint cingular and now the new at&t or how about bank of america what are the corporations helping the right spy on you well its looking like it will turn for a moment light arms and canned goods the mob pulled the plug and went legitimate as early as bonnao who had the mona lisa by the way it all culminated when paul costalano was really into the stock market then by 1988 ethnic gangs were fighting in the streets for their former territory beware of the net sharlatons and hacks I pulled all of this from some very interesting nonfiction books and assumptions my third eye brings by corrilating everything I have ever read even curchill was outside of this knowledge be aware of another gathering storm enjoy what is left of our time here and do not fear john of padmos for he was just eating tainted grain stores and was tripping out of his mind fear will only distract the primary focus trust me on that may the devine mind keep all who reads this and now very truely goodnight

anonymous4 Feb-28-2008

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fucking deuschbags

hyattenterprises Oct-24-2008

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Don't want to step on toes but i've studied the japanese marital arts for over 20 years, includeing haveing lived there for a couple of years. The word does have a japanese meaning. (COUNTRY AT WAR) This is probably not the idea behind lucas' creation but that is the basic meaning, to the best of my knowledge

tommy_ Dec-17-2008

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Yoda is hebrew for knowledge -Yeda
Jedi is japanese for swordsplay and is a corrobaration for the two words connecting justice and some other shit word in Tao-Mythology.

hero1 Dec-19-2008

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The following is from the strong's concordance which offers the background hebrew translation of words and phrases from the bible. Considering Lucas' heritage and the fact that the root word described is being used in a book of the old testament which is a part of the Jewish Torah (sp?) I don't think its a coincidence. All these other insanely complex explanations for where Jedi comes from is ridiculous. So in light of the information below I believe Jedi to simply mean 'appointed' which is a very powerful word in the context it is used. It is reserved for speaking about kings or prophets in the old testament. 'Appointed' by God is the assumed inference.

יעדּי
ye‛dı̂y
yed-ee'
From H3259; appointed; Jedi, an Israelite: - Iddo [from the margin] See H3035.

The Truth Apr-01-2011

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It also could come from the Egyptian magician Djedi that was consulted by the Pharoh Khufu regarding the building of the Pyramids at Giza

marshall goldschmidt May-29-2011

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So, to sum up the last dozen posts or so on Jedi, he's an Appointed (capital 'A') smart dude who's handy with a sword. Sounds almost right from a Lucas perspective, given his interviews on the subject. Now for 'Yoda'

TL DR Dec-29-2011

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I don't know about the word jedi but sith (and gesith) has a long history in Old and Middle English with many meanings. Among them:

sīþ, m. — comrade, companion: follower, retainer, warrior: count, thane.

AnWulf Dec-30-2011

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I don't know about the word jedi but sith (and gesith) has a long history in Old and Middle English with many meanings. Among them:

sīþ, m. — comrade, companion: follower, retainer, warrior: count, thane.

AnWulf Dec-30-2011

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I have recently discovered that King Solomon, from the Bible, had another name. The name given him by God, through Nathan the prophet, was Jedidiah. The etymology of Jedidiah breaks the word into two syllables, the first being Jedi. The meaning of the word Jedi is 'the love of God'. It's also fitting because Solomon is considered the wisest man in the bible, and the Jedi of the bible are apparently very wise.

Wordswords Jan-06-2012

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I believe the term Jedi originated as follows. Early biblical history. Apocryphal writings that were NOT included in the Bible as we know it today in most formats, contained the writings of Enoch. Enoch was a decendant of Cain. The Book of Enoch has many references to the "Watchers", who were fallen angels. These "watchers" co-bred with mankind creating what were called the Nephilim. The Nephilim were also known as Jedi, due to the fact they were privy to the Godly knowledge of the heavens.

Beavis Feb-23-2012

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If the Jedi is pronounced as "Je-di" not "Je-dai", then in Chinese Jedi means final ground. There is nowhere to retreat further; only choice is to fight back.

Herman Chiu Oct-24-2012

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Here are some links on the Root of the word Jedi in the form of Djedi:
http://www.djedet.com/ladyjedi.php
http://bluestarenterprise.com/old-website/Jedi_Article.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Djedi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djedi_Project

And being of egyptian root we would look for Sith as "Set" or possibly Seth:
Here is Set also Seth:
http://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/set.html
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/set.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Set_(mythology)

I have also see the root of Jedi Possibly in the name Jedidiah* Jedi-Diah* Which means Friend of God in Hebrew. The Diah part meaning God and the Jedi part meaning friend.

So if God is in this case the force then we have friend of the force. I believe that god is just like the force as described in The Jedi path. "created by life" versus the other way around.

But Keep looking. Seeking. This is the way of The Jedi. May the force be with you!

Ki-An May-12-2013

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I believe George Lucas came up with the name Jedi thru the name Jedidiah also. In the bible David had a son and they named him Solomon. God informed Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah. After his father died and he became king, God asked Solomon to ask him for whatever he wanted. He did not ask for wealth, long life, or defeat of his enemies; instead he asked for descernment in ruling over such a vast number of people.

God was pleased by what he asked for and he gave him WISDOM that no other was equal or better then, even to this day. Lucas knew this and made the association, and used the name Jedi, because their strength was suppose to be their wisdom.

Holliwan May-25-2013

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