Wandering Jew

noun

1. a legendary character condemned to roam without rest because he struck Christ on the day of the Crucifixion.
2. Also wandering Jew, Wan·der·ing-jew [] Also called inch plant. any of various trailing or creeping plants, as Zebrina pendula or Tradescantia fluminensis, having green or variegated leaves: a popular houseplant.

Wandering Jew

¹

noun

1. (in medieval legend) a character condemned to roam the world eternally because he mocked Christ on the day of the Crucifixion

wandering Jew

²

noun

1. any of several related creeping or trailing plants of tropical America, esp Tradescantia fluminensis and Zebrina pendula: family Commelinaceae
2. a similar creeping plant of the genus Commelina

Word History and Origins

Origin of Wandering Jew¹

First recorded in 1625–35

Example Sentences

Pim had read one of Roth’s works years before — a book called “The Wandering Jews,” in which Roth returns to his Galician homeland to describe the “wonder-rabbis” and the Jewish believers who flocked to them.

From New York Times

But when we encounter this man in folklore, he’s known by another, more familiar name: the Wandering Jew.

From New York Times

The visage of philanthropist George Soros, made into the durable caricature of the Wandering Jew of old, was plastered around Hungary.

From Washington Post

The Wandering Jew ring that belonged to my husband, Carl, is very important to me.

From The Guardian

His 2007 book “The Barn Owl’s Wondrous Capers,” for instance, chronicles an unnamed narrator’s search for an eighteenth-century book of scandals, written by an Indian version of the “Wandering Jew” of medieval Christian mythology.

From The New Yorker