Hebrew

HEE-broo/ˈhiːbɹuː/

PluralHebrews (some meanings)

6 meanings of Hebrew

1
noununcountable
A Semitic language spoken by Jewish people and written from right to left.
She is learning Hebrew at her local community center.
Many prayers in the synagogue are spoken in Hebrew.
2
adjective
Belonging to the Jewish people or their language.
She sang a beautiful Hebrew song at the wedding.
The library keeps many old Hebrew books on its shelves.
SimilarHebraic, Jewish
Note
3
nouncountable
A person who belongs to an ancient people descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Moses led the Hebrews out of Egypt and across the desert.
Every Hebrew in the story trusted in one God.
SimilarIsraelite, Jew
4
noununcountable
The set of letters used to write the Hebrew language, written from right to left.
The store sign was painted in bold Hebrew above the door.
She practiced writing each letter of Hebrew carefully in her notebook.
5
nouncountable
A person descended from Eber, a man named in the Bible.
Old genealogies trace each Hebrew back to the patriarch Eber.
In the tale, the Hebrews all shared Eber as their forefather.
Note
6
nouncolloquialuncountable
A joking word for speech or writing that no one can understand.
The instructions were total Hebrew to me, so I asked for help.
His messy notes looked like Hebrew on the page.
SimilarGreek, gibberish, nonsense

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It came into English long ago from a Hebrew word 'ʿiḇrī', passing through Aramaic, Greek, Latin, French, and older English along the way.