Hebrew

American  

[hee-broo] / ˈhi bru /

noun

• Hebrews
  plural

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

Derived Forms

• non-Hebrew
  noun
• pre-Hebrew
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• Hebrews
  plural

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

See Examples For:

Hebrew Hebrews

By using a more advanced model that includes two distinct superconducting orders, the Hebrew University researchers were able to explain the experimental measurements much more accurately.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 31, 2026

The research was led by PhD student Osama Hidmi under the guidance of Prof. Rami Aqeilan of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 2, 2026

For Yonatan Freeman, an international relations expert at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the primary aim of the visit is to dispel reports of a cooling in relations between the allies.

From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026

He is in the early stages of building a center for AI at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem School of Law, where he studied.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

There may be other kids like us at our Hebrew school, but Micah is the only one I’m comfortable talking about it with.

From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan

I thought of Hebrews 13:2: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 27, 2025

Yet the Hebrew Bible shows that Hebrews were as terrified of existential uprootedness as Blaise Pascal or any Christian king.

From Salon ● Mar. 31, 2024

The Black Hebrews, as the spiritual community’s members are commonly known, first made their way to Israel from the United States in the 1960s.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 20, 2023

Around 3,000 Black Hebrews live in remote, hardscrabble towns in southern Israel.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 20, 2023

He kept the Sabbath on Saturday, observed Passover and other important Jewish holidays, and belonged to a small neighborhood congregation, whose members called themselves Hebrews or Israelites.

From "The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights" by Russell Freedman