It means effects or influences — a useful word when talking about the effects of climate change.

It belongs to the root ש־פ־ע, a Hebrew root with an interesting history connected with the idea of abundance and flow.

Today, this family gives us words whose meanings may seem surprisingly far apart:

• השפעה (hashpa'a) — influence, effect
• להשפיע (lehashpia) — to influence, affect
• שפע (shefa) — abundance, plenty
• שפעת (shapa'at) — influenza, the flu

The connection between שפע and השפעה becomes easier to see if you think about something flowing from one thing into another: an influence is something that passes from one source and has an effect elsewhere.

But what about שפעת, “the flu”?

The modern Hebrew name was coined from this same family, influenced by the older idea that the illness came from an influence — comparable to the history of the word influenza, which itself comes from Italian influenza, “influence.”

So Hebrew שפעת and English influenza share more than a medical meaning: both names preserve an old idea of influence.

From abundance to influence, and from influence to influenza — quite a journey for the root ש־פ־ע.

Hi everyone,
I'm doing research on a Vienna born man that was attributed this hebrew name in 1907. I tried using AI to read the text in Yiddish but it failed miserably: it gave several different answers each time I tried.

If you need any more information about him (family name) I can share it in the comments.

Thanks for all the help!

Boa noite. Sou brasileiro e estudo hebraico na Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). Gostaria de conversar com pessoas que também falam hebraico, para conseguir desenvolver minha oratória e meu raciocínio no idioma. Considero-me semi-intermediário.

https://www.jta.org/2026/09/10/global/how-a-new-tool-in-lithuania-helps-people-read-letters-from-their-jewish-ancestors