Shavuot (שבועות) = weeks
The reason this holiday is called "Shavuot" is because of the 7 weeks counted from Pessach. Don’t be mistaken – technically this is irregular: שבוע (week) is a masculine word ("שבוע טוב") added with ות in plural:
ילד - ילדים
חודש – חודשים
שבוע – שבועות (irregular)
I know – Shavuot my dear friend is a religious holiday ("חג") for all intents and purposes – one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals “שלושת הרגלים” and the holiday of giving of the Torah (חג מתן תורה).
On a (very) personal note, for me Shavuot is the most Zionist - Israeli holiday ever, also being (by far!) the best holiday in our calendar:
fun, hippie joyous vibes – wearing white, weaving flowers in our hair, going out dancing being grateful for everything we have;
water wars, endlessly gobbling cheesecakes and dancing with babies on stages is 100% legitimate (לגיטימי); and
most importantly – unlike most holidays where we celebrate the fact that we were saved or beat someone in hopeless battles, in Shavuot we celebrate the good things we are given, what we have and do not take for granted – the growing fruits and vegetables, the wheel of the sun and water. We celebrate the laws of nature and humankind, our society and its new babies (humans and animals). We stop to say thank you (תודה) to our land (אדמה) and meet the people with whom we share it.
So – חג שמח
ו... תודה!
A few words including the root מ.ת.נ:
מתן – (giving (also a common Israeli name, usually for kids born around Shavuot
משא ומתן – (...negotiation (you take some you give some
מתנה – gift
להמתין – (to wait (for something to come or to happen
המתנה - waiting
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