Yenta is not portrayed in a terribly nice light; she isn't exactly demonized, but she is treated as a psychically blind, interfering mooch who plays god in others' lives and collects a fee for it. She honestly wants to see others be happy as a result of her work, but not so much she'll abrogate anything she could gain out of it. Her behavior was probably meant to outline the self-serving nature of the Old Order that the musical spends most of its time tearing apart..

The lyrics in the node matchmaker seem to think the name was spelled "Yente", but that's probably just a matter of opinion. Transcription of Hebrew always comes out funky.

One of the many Yiddish words that have made it into English. Most often, 'yenta' refers to a female gossip. (It can also refer to a male, but that's unusual.) This might apply to anyone from a malicious rumour monger to simply an overly talkative person.

It can also be used to refer to a person who can't keep a secret, or just can't keep their mouth shut.

And it can also refer to a person of low origins or vulgar manners. Also a shrew, a shallow person, or a coarse person.

Pronounced like it looks, YEN-ta. It can also be spelled yente. Yenta was originally a given name, used as a first name for girls. It was originally Yentl, the root word of which meant gentile or kind.

See also: yachna, yideneh, and the most famous yenta of them all, Yenta Telebende.