# Jewish

Pronunciation: say "JOO-ish" /ˈd͡ʒu.ɪʃ/

## Adjective

1. Having to do with Jews as a people, or with the ethnic groups and cultures to which they belong.
   - Simple: Connected to Jews, their backgrounds, or their cultures.
   - _The museum's new exhibit explores Jewish history across three continents._
   - _Klezmer music is a lively part of Jewish cultural tradition._
2. Practicing or adhering to the religion of Judaism.
   - Simple: Following 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._

## Proper noun

3. Yiddish, the historical vernacular of Ashkenazi Jews. *(nonstandard)*
   - Simple: Yiddish: the language long spoken by Jews of central and eastern Europe, and still spoken today.
   - _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._
4. An informal name some English speakers use for Hebrew, the liturgical language of Judaism and the modern language of Israel. *(nonstandard)*
   - Simple: An informal word for Hebrew, the language of Jewish prayers and of Israel today.
   - _When my neighbor saw the Hebrew letters on the cover of my book, he asked whether I could really read Jewish._
   - _The cantor chanted the blessing in Jewish, then translated it for us._

## Adjective

5. Greedy or miserly: a dated, offensive usage that draws on an antisemitic stereotype about money. *(dated)*
   - Simple: Greedy or stingy with money, used as an insulting, old-fashioned slur against Jewish people.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A Jew, used as a count noun in some non-native speakers' English rather than as the standard adjective.

## Origin

Formed from Jew plus the suffix -ish. It has relatives in other languages, such as Middle English Judewissh, Old English Iūdēisċ, Dutch joods, and German jüdisch, all meaning "Jewish."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/jewish (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).