shibboleth
n. US //ˈʃɪbəˌɫɛθ// UK //ʃˈɪbəʊləθ// shib·bo·leth
Learned borrowing from Biblical Hebrew שִׁבֹּלֶת /שיבולת (šibbṓleṯ, “ear [of wheat] or stream, torrent”). Doublet of sebboleth and Middle English sebolech, both from Late Latin sebboleth in the Vulgate.