איילונית

Hebrew

Etymology

From אַיִל (áyil, “ram”) +‎ ־נִית (-nít), a diminutive suffix; from Aramaic ־נִיתָא, Classical Syriac -ܢܝܬܐ (-nīṯā).

Noun

איילונית / אַיְלוֹנִית • ('aylonít) f (plural indefinite איילוניות / אַיְלוֹנִיּוֹת)

1. (Jewish law) barren woman, woman physically unable to bear children
   • a. 217 C.E., Mishnah, Yevamot 1:1:

     וכולם אם מתו או מיאנו או נתגרשו או שנמצאו איילוניות צרותיהן מותרות ואי אתה יכול לומר בחמותו ואם חמותו ואם חמיו שנמצאו איילוניות או שמיאנו

     And all of them [the women who exempt their co-wives from levirate marriage], if [before their husbands' death] they had died, or had done mi'un, or had been divorced, or had been found barren, their co-wives are permissible. And you cannot say of his mother-in-law, or of the mother of his mother-in-law, or of the mother of his father-in-law, that they had been found barren or had done mi'un.

2. (Jewish law) sexually underdeveloped woman
   • a. 500 C.E., Babylonian Talmud, Yevamot 80b:

     ואיזו היא אילונית כל שהיא בת עשרים ולא הביאה ב׳ שערות

     And who is a sexually underdeveloped woman? Any woman who is twenty [years old] and has not grown two [pubic] hairs.