Falasha

[ fah-lah-shuh, fuh- ]

noun

, plural Fa·la·shas, (especially collectively) Fa·la·sha.

1. Disparaging and Offensive. Beta Israel ( def ).

Falasha

/ fəˈlæʃə /

noun

1. a member of a tribe of Black Ethiopian Jews

Sensitive Note

The derogatory name Falasha refers to a community of Ethiopian Jews or to a member of this community, most of whom now live in Israel. The Amharic word falasha means "outsider, exile," and this name was given to the Ethiopian Jews by other Ethiopians. The community refers to itself as Beta Israel.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Falasha¹

First recorded in 1710–15; from Amharic fälasha “immigrant, exile, stranger,” from fälash, active participle of fälläsä “to migrate”

Word History and Origins

Origin of Falasha¹

from Amharic, from fälasi stranger

Example Sentences

Agoshe, a Falasha convert of the L.J.S. in Abyssinia.

From Project Gutenberg

I visited, in company with Mr. Flad, the Bishop of Jerusalem's Scripture Reader, upwards of thirty Falasha settlements, and saw the priests, and all those that could read, from more than fifty-five other places.

From Project Gutenberg

Egsiabher, Debtera Gebra, a very learned Falasha convert, labouring among his brethren in Abyssinia in 1874, when Mr. J. M. Flad met some of the converts at Kassala.

From Project Gutenberg

Jasu, was one of the three Falasha converts who carried on the work of the mission during the imprisonment of the missionaries in Abyssinia.

From Project Gutenberg

A major setback to the program is the fact that Falasha refugees in Sudan have blended into the anonymity of the camps and are sharing in the tragic fate of their other occupants.

From Time Magazine Archive