Yenta (×™×¢× ×ªÖ¼×Ö·) from the Yiddish Yente, a back-formation from the woman's name Yente, alteration of Yentl, from Old Italian Gentile, from gentile, amiable, highborn, from Latin gentÄ«lis, of the same clan. Despite its higher origins, today yenta is used as a descriptive term for a gossipy woman; a blabbermouth who can't keep a secret, a woman who spreads rumors and scandal and gladly gives advice whether or not one even wants it, and is sometimes used to refer to a woman who is a matchmaker.
