Hebrew

PluralHebrews (some meanings)

1. 1
   noununcountable

   The Semitic language of the ancient Hebrews and of Jewish scripture, revived in modern times as the main language of Israel.

   Modern Hebrew is now spoken by millions of people across Israel.

   He translated the ancient text from Hebrew into English.

2. 2
   adjective

   Relating to the Hebrew people or their language.

   The scholar specialized in Hebrew poetry from the medieval period.

   Many Hebrew customs have been passed down through the generations.

   SimilarHebraic, Jewish

   Note

   The adjective covers the people, their language and often the script too: Hebrew poetry, Hebrew customs, a stained-glass Hebrew chai leaning in a window. It does not take degrees, so nothing is more Hebrew than something else. The word reached English through Old French and Latin, from Greek Hebraîos and Aramaic ʿiḇray, and ultimately from Hebrew ʿiḇrī́. The name is the people's own word for themselves.

3. 3
   nouncountable

   A person belonging to the Semitic people who trace their ancestry to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

   The ancient Hebrews are described throughout the early books of the Bible.

   Abraham is regarded as the first Hebrew in many traditions.

   SimilarIsraelite, Jew

4. 4
   noununcountable

   The system of letters used to write the Hebrew language.

   The ancient scroll was inscribed entirely in Hebrew.

   Calligraphers spent years perfecting the curves of written Hebrew.

5. 5
   nouncountable

   A person descended from Eber, the patriarch named in the Bible.

   Some traditions hold that the Hebrews took their name from their ancestor Eber.

   Biblical genealogy presents Abraham as a Hebrew through his descent from Eber.

   Note

   A genealogical sense rather than an ethnic one. It reaches back past Abraham to his ancestor Eber, so a Hebrew here means one of Eber's line. The people's name groups a nation under the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This sense traces a single line of descent instead. It belongs mainly to discussions of biblical genealogy and of where the name itself came from.

6. 6
   nouncolloquialuncountable

   A playful term for speech or writing that is impossible to make sense of.

   The legal contract was pure Hebrew to anyone without a law degree.

   To the new intern, the engineers' jargon sounded like Hebrew.

   SimilarGreek, gibberish, nonsense

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