gedola

Gedola is the feminine singular form of the Hebrew adjective gadol, meaning large or great. It is used to describe feminine nouns or to express that something feminine is large or significant. The corresponding masculine form is gadol (גדול), and the feminine form gadola (גדולה) reflects standard Hebrew gender agreement.

Etymology and grammar: Gedola derives from the Semitic root g-d-l, which underlies a family of related words for size, greatness, and importance. In modern and Biblical Hebrew, adjectives must agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify, so feminine singular nouns take gedola, while masculine singular nouns take gadol. For example, the feminine noun עיר (city) can take the feminine adjective: העיר הגדולה “the big city.” By contrast, masculine nouns such as בית (house) pair withgadol: הבית הגדול “the big house.” As a predicate adjective, both forms can appear after a linking verb: האיש גדול (the man is big) vs האישה גדולה (the woman is big).

Usage as a noun: The word גדֹולה can also function as a noun meaning “greatness” or “the greatness,” as in phrases where the concept of size or importance is being discussed. In biblical and liturgical contexts, the feminine form often appears in phrases describing feminine subjects or abstract qualities.

In summary, gedola is the feminine counterpart of gadol, used to describe feminine singular nouns or to convey feminine instances of size and importance in both everyday and literary Hebrew.