View synonyms for Hebrew

Hebrew

[ hee-broo ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

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

adjective

Hebraic.
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

/ ˈhiːbruː /

noun

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

adjective

of or relating to the Hebrews or their language
archaic.
Jewish

Hebrew

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-Hebrew noun adjective
pre-Hebrew adjective noun

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Word History and Origins

Origin of Hebrew¹

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

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Word History and Origins

Origin of Hebrew¹

C13: from Old French Ebreu, from Latin Hebraeus, from Greek Hebraios, from Aramaic `ibhray, from Hebrew `ibhrī one from beyond (the river)

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Israel has strong form in this category, and sets the bar again with New Day Will Rise, a melancholy piano ballad sung in a mixture of English, French and Hebrew.

From BBC

But they represent the global diversity of L.A.’s half-million Jews, melding the Hebrew and English spoken at day care with the Persian or Yiddish learned at home.

From Los Angeles Times

“Soldiers invaded the ambulance he called, and took him,” Abraham added in his post, which was shared in English and Hebrew.

From Los Angeles Times

Police said she had a tattoo of the word "success" in Hebrew.

From BBC

Members of the unit, known in Hebrew as Tatzpitaniyot, are tasked with observing the Gaza border and looking for signs of anything suspicious.

From BBC

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