In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “german noun meaning a " human "”. Today it says “yiddish word which”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-02. In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “german noun meaning a " human "”. Today it says “yiddish word which”.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2005 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2005
Mensch (Yiddish מענטש ; also mentsch , mentsh , mensh , or mench ) is a German noun meaning a " human ".1In Yiddish (from which the word has migrated into American English ), mensch roughly means "a good person". A mensch is a particularly good person, like "a stand-up guy," a person with the qualities one would hope for in a dear friend or trusted colleague.2According to author and Yiddish popularist Leo Rosten , [a] mensch is a someone to admire and emulate, someone of noble character.3 The key to being "a real mensch" is nothing less than character, rectitude, dignity, a sense of what is right, responsible, decorous. The Joys of Yiddish . New York: Pocket Books. 237) v t e4
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16500378.
The opening as it stood in 2010 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Mensch ( mentsh ; , for "human being") means "a person of integrity and honor" .The opposite of a mensch is an unmensch (meaning: an utterly cruel or evil person).According to Leo Rosten , the Yiddish maven and author of The Joys of Yiddish , mensch is " someone to admire and emulate, someone of noble character. The key to being “a real mensch” is nothing less than character, rectitude, dignity, a sense of what is right, responsible, decorous ". In Yiddish (from which the word has migrated into American English ), mensch roughly means "a good person." A "mensch" is a particularly good person, like "a stand-up guy," a person with the qualities one would hope for in a dear friend or trusted colleague. Mentschlekhkeyt ( Yiddish : מענטשלעכקייט , German : Menschlichkeit) are the properties which make one a mensch.During the Age of Enlightenment in Germany, the term "Humanität" in the philosophical sense of humanity , was used for "a better human being " or Humanism .The concept goes back to Cicero 's Humanitas and was literally translated into the German word Menschlichkeit and further refined into "mentsh" in Yiddish language use.In Modern Israeli Hebrew , the phrase Ben Adam (בן אדם) is used as an exact translation of Mensch.Though it usually means simply "a person" (literally, "son of Adam") in general, it is used to mean "a nice guy" in the same way as mensch.This usage may have developed by analogy with Yiddish or by adaptation from Arabic (from which colloquial Israeli Hebrew takes much vocabulary), in which the cognate construction Bani Adam (بني آدم) has the same meaning.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 370121904.
The opening as it stood in 2015 7 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Mensch ( mentsh , cognate with "human being") means "a person of integrity and honor." The opposite of a " mensch " is an " unmensch " (meaning: an utterly unlikeable or unfriendly person). According to Leo Rosten , the Yiddish maven and author of The Joys of Yiddish , " mensch " is "someone to admire and emulate, someone of noble character. The key to being 'a real mensch' is nothing less than character, rectitude, dignity, a sense of what is right, responsible, decorous." The term is used as a high compliment, expressing the rarity and value of that individual's qualities.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 669508120.
The opening as it stood in 2020
Mensch ( , mentsh , cognate with German : mensch , 'human being') means "a person of integrity and honor." The opposite of a mensch is an unmensch , meaning an utterly unlikeable or unfriendly person. According to Leo Rosten , Yiddish maven and author of The Joys of Yiddish , a mensch is "someone to admire and emulate, someone of noble character. The key to being 'a real mensch' is nothing less than character, rectitude, dignity, a sense of what is right, responsible, decorous." The term is used as a high compliment, implying the rarity and value of that individual's qualities.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 964887412.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Yiddish word for a person of integrity and honor For other uses, see Mensch (disambiguation) .Mensch ( , mentsh , from Middle High German Mensch , from Old High German mennisco ; akin to Old English human being , man ) means "a person of integrity and honor". According to Leo Rosten , a mensch is "someone to admire and emulate, someone of noble character. The key to being 'a real mensch' is nothing less than character, rectitude, dignity, a sense of what is right, responsible, decorous." The term is used as a high compliment, implying the rarity and value of that individual's qualities.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1145114766.
The opening as it stood in 2025 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Yiddish word for a person of integrity and honor For other uses, see Mensch (disambiguation) . Mensch or mentsh ( Yiddish : מענטש ) is a Yiddish word which literally translates to "person", and figuratively means "a person of integrity and honor".Jewish American humorist Leo Rosten describes a mentsh as "someone to admire and emulate, someone of noble character. The key to being 'a real mensch' is nothing less than character, rectitude, dignity, a sense of what is right, responsible, decorous". The term is used as a high compliment, implying the rarity and value of that individual's qualities. The Comprehensive English-Yiddish Dictionary .The Joys of Yiddish .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1297748674. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “german noun meaning a " human "”. Today it says “yiddish word which”. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined between 2005 and 2025.
Then
german noun meaning a " human "
Now
yiddish word which literally translates to "person"
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
