Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun
- the son of Abraham and Hagar: both he and Hagar were cast out of Abraham’s family by Sarah. Gen. 16:11, 12.
- any outcast.
- an Arab.
noun
- the son of Abraham and Hagar, Sarah’s handmaid: the ancestor of 12 Arabian tribes (Genesis 21:8–21; 25:12–18)
- a bandit chieftain, who defied the Babylonian conquerors of Judah and assassinated the governor appointed by Nebuchadnezzar (II Kings 25:25; Jeremiah 40:13–41:18)
- rare an outcast
masc. proper name, biblical son of Abraham and Hagar, from Hebrew Yishma’el, literally “God hears,” from yishma, imperf. of shama “he heard.” The Arabs claim descent from him. Figurative sense of “an outcast,” “whose hand is against every man, and every man’s hand against him” is from Gen. xvi:12.