Hebrew

American  

[hee-broo] / ˈhi bru /

noun

1. a member of the Semitic peoples inhabiting ancient Palestine and claiming descent from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; an Israelite.

2. 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. Heb

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adjective

1. Hebraic.

2. 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.

Hebrew British  

/ ˈhiːbruː /

noun

1. 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

2. a member of an ancient Semitic people claiming descent from Abraham; an Israelite

3. archaic a Jew

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adjective

1. of or relating to the Hebrews or their language

2. archaic Jewish

Hebrew Cultural  

1. The language of the Hebrews, in which the Old Testament was written. It is the language of the modern state of Israel.

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Other Word Forms

• non-Hebrew noun
• pre-Hebrew adjective

Etymology

Origin of Hebrew

before 1000; Middle English Hebreu, variant (with H- < Latin ) of Ebreu < Old French < Medieval Latin Ebrēus for Latin Hebraeus < Late Greek Hebraîos < Aramaic ʿIbhraij; replacing Old English Ebrēas (plural) < Medieval Latin Ebrēī

Example Sentences

He called for the establishment of garinei nahal, the Hebrew name of an Israeli military program that combines military service and joint settlement of communities by young people.

From The Wall Street Journal

Since the colonial period the Hebrew Bible has shaped American political culture—as Rabbi Dov Lerner of Yeshiva University points out in his essay.

From The Wall Street Journal

Hanukkah, or Chanukah in Hebrew, is the Jewish festival of light.

From BBC

Astor was targeted again last November, he said, when he and an Arab-Israeli researcher he’d flown in from Hebrew University of Jerusalem tried to discuss their research on preventing school violence in class.

From Salon

The stories of the Hebrew Bible frequently relate to central questions of family life: where to settle, whom to marry, when to have children.

From The Wall Street Journal