shadchan
/ˈʃadxən
/ /ˈʃɒdxən/(also shadkhan)
noun (plural same /ˈʃadxɛn/, shadchanim /ˈʃadxənɪm/, or shadchans)
A Jewish professional matchmaker or marriage broker.By the 15th century, scholars as great as Maharal earned their livelihoods as professional shadchanim....
- When young Orthodox men and women reach a marriageable age, and receive a recommendation from a shadchan, or matchmaker, about a potential mate, they make a very important phone call.
- He kept telling shadchanim he was a yeshiva graduate.
Origin
From Yiddish shadkhn, based on Hebrew šiddēḵ 'negotiate'.