Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun
- a member of the Semitic peoples inhabiting ancient Palestine and claiming descent from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; an Israelite.
- a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic family, the language of the ancient Hebrews, which, although not in a vernacular use from 100 b.c. to the 20th century, was retained as the scholarly and liturgical language of Jews and is now the national language of Israel. Abbreviation: Heb
adjective
- Hebraic.
- noting or pertaining to the script developed from the Aramaic and early Hebraic alphabets, used since about the 3rd century b.c. for the writing of Hebrew, and later for Yiddish, Ladino, and other languages.
noun
- the ancient language of the Hebrews, revived as the official language of Israel. It belongs to the Canaanitic branch of the Semitic subfamily of the Afro-Asiatic family of languages
- a member of an ancient Semitic people claiming descent from Abraham; an Israelite
- archaic, or offensive a Jew
adjective
- of or relating to the Hebrews or their language
- archaic, or offensive Jewish
late Old English, from Old French Ebreu, from Latin Hebraeus, from Greek Hebraios, from Aramaic ‘ebhrai, corresponding to Hebrew ‘ibhri “an Israelite,” literally “one from the other side,” in reference to the River Euphrates, or perhaps simply signifying “immigrant;” from ‘ebher “region on the other or opposite side.” The noun is c.1200, “the Hebrew language;” late 14c. of persons, originally “a biblical Jew, Israelite.”
The language of the Hebrews, in which the Old Testament was written. It is the language of the modern state of Israel.