Rebbitzin (Yiddish: רביצין) or Rabbanit (Hebrew: רַבָּנִית) is the title used for the wife of a rabbi, typically from the Orthodox, or Haredi, and Hasidic Jewish groups. With the growth of independent scholarship among Orthodox women, some women have informally received the title on their own merit, irrespective of their husbands. The Yiddish word has a convoluted etymology: Hebrew rebbə "master", plus the Slavic feminine suffix -itsa and the German feminine suffix -in.