Jewish

1. 1
   people and cultureadjective

   Having to do with Jews as a people, or with the ethnic groups and cultures to which they belong.

   The museum's new exhibit explores Jewish history across three continents.

   Klezmer music is a lively part of Jewish cultural tradition.

   Oppositegentile, non-Jewish

   Note

   This is the widest use of the word. It covers food, humor, history, neighborhoods and family background, and it applies whether or not anyone involved practices the religion.

2. 2
   religionadjective

   Practicing or adhering to the religion of Judaism.

   As an observant Jewish family, they keep kosher at home and rest from work on the Sabbath.

   Several Jewish students requested time off for the High Holy Days.

   Oppositenon-Jewish

   Note

   Here the word concerns religious belief and practice, which sets it apart from the heritage and culture meaning. Someone can be Jewish by descent without being observant. Its opposites include non-Jewish and gentile.

3. 3
   Yiddish (language)proper nounnonstandard

   Yiddish, the historical vernacular of Ashkenazi Jews.

   Like many immigrants from Eastern Europe, my great-grandmother spoke mostly Jewish, as she called Yiddish, and never learned much English.

   The old family letters were written in Jewish, the Yiddish her grandfather had spoken as a boy in Lithuania.

   UsageCareful speakers say Yiddish: she spoke Yiddish at home. Jewish as a language name can also be taken to mean Hebrew.

   SimilarYiddish

   Note

   The name turns up in family talk. In Martin S. Jaffee's The End of Jewish Radar (2009), a father describes a waiter who "speaks Jewish like a Galitzianer." Ewa Kurek's Polish-Jewish Relations 1939-1945 reports a tram exchange that keeps the two languages apart: "One speaks Jewish aboard the Jewish tram," then "What about in Hebrew?"

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