Food prepared according to Jewish dietary laws; also used generally to mean proper, legitimate, or acceptable.
From Yiddish 'kosher,' ultimately from Hebrew 'kasher' meaning 'fit' or 'proper.' The word entered English in the 1600s and has been generalized beyond its strict religious meaning.
The word 'kosher' is a perfect example of how minority communities' cultural practices become mainstream English words—now even non-Jewish people use it to mean 'legitimate,' completely divorced from its original religious context.
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