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JEW
Pronunciation (US): | (GB): |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A person belonging to the worldwide group claiming descent from Jacob (or converted to it) and connected by cultural or religious ties
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("Jew" is a kind of...):
individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "Jew"):
Ashkenazi (a Jew of eastern European or German descent)
Conservative Jew (Jew who keeps some requirements of Mosaic law but adapts others to suit modern circumstances)
Essene (a member of an ascetic Jewish sect around the time of Jesus)
Jewess (a woman who is a Jew)
hymie; kike; sheeny; yid ((ethnic slur) offensive term for a Jew)
Levite (a member of the Hebrew tribe of Levi (especially the branch that provided male assistants to the temple priests))
Zionist (a Jewish supporter of Zionism)
Orthodox Jew (Jew who practices strict observance of Mosaic law)
Pharisee (a member of an ancient Jewish sect noted for strict obedience to Jewish traditions)
Reform Jew (liberal Jew who tries to adapt all aspects of Judaism to modern circumstances)
Sadducee (a member of an ancient Jewish sect around the time of Jesus; opposed to the Pharisees)
Sephardi; Sephardic Jew (a Jew who is of Spanish or Portuguese or North African descent)
Wandering Jew (a legendary Jew condemned to roam the world for mocking Jesus at the Crucifixion)
Zealot (a member of an ancient Jewish sect in Judea in the first century who fought to the death against the Romans and who killed or persecuted Jews who collaborated with the Romans)
Instance hyponyms:
Christ; Deliverer; Good Shepherd; Jesus; Jesus Christ; Jesus of Nazareth; Redeemer; Savior; Saviour; the Nazarene (a teacher and prophet born in Bethlehem and active in Nazareth; his life and sermons form the basis for Christianity (circa 4 BC - AD 29))
Lot ((Old Testament) nephew of Abraham; God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah but chose to spare Lot and his family who were told to flee without looking back at the destruction)
Holonyms ("Jew" is a member of...):
Jewry (Jews collectively)
Derivation:
Judaic (of or relating to Jews or their culture or religion)
Judaic (of or relating to or characteristic of the Jews or their culture or religion)
Context examples:
I propose, said Mr. Micawber, Bills—a convenience to the mercantile world, for which, I believe, we are originally indebted to the Jews, who appear to me to have had a devilish deal too much to do with them ever since—because they are negotiable.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
We had a pleasant little meal together, during which Holmes would talk about nothing but violins, narrating with great exultation how he had purchased his own Stradivarius, which was worth at least five hundred guineas, at a Jew broker’s in Tottenham Court Road for fifty-five shillings.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
This I learned from her benefactress; from the pious and charitable lady who adopted her in her orphan state, reared her as her own daughter, and whose kindness, whose generosity the unhappy girl repaid by an ingratitude so bad, so dreadful, that at last her excellent patroness was obliged to separate her from her own young ones, fearful lest her vicious example should contaminate their purity: she has sent her here to be healed, even as the Jews of old sent their diseased to the troubled pool of Bethesda; and, teachers, superintendent, I beg of you not to allow the waters to stagnate round her.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Jehovah was anthropomorphic because he could address himself to the Jews only in terms of their understanding; so he was conceived as in their own image, as a cloud, a pillar of fire, a tangible, physical something which the mind of the Israelites could grasp.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
“Get your wind, Joe; get your wind!” cried the Jews.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
He began in a low voice, haltingly, forming into order the ideas which had surged in his brain while the Jew was speaking.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
The ancestors of Ashkenazi Jews lived in Central and Eastern Europe (e.g., Germany, Poland, Russia).
(Ashkenazi Jews, NCI Dictionary)
A silence of several minutes succeeded their first short dialogue; it was broken by Thorpe's saying very abruptly, “Old Allen is as rich as a Jew—is not he?”
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
Most Jews living in the United States are Ashkenazi Jews.
(Ashkenazi Jew, NCI Dictionary)
I'll come, Teddy, rain or shine, and march before you, playing 'Hail the conquering hero comes' on a jew's-harp.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)