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jüdisch

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Etymology and origin of the German word jüdisch

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
late 8th century, Old High German Isidor
Inherited from
Middle High German jüdisch
Ultimate origin
Biblical Hebrew (יְהוּדָה)

Pronunciation

  • /ˈjyːdɪʃ/[1]

Forms

jüdisch (strong nominative masculine singular jüdischer, comparative jüdischer, superlative am jüdischsten)[1] Middle High German also has judesch.[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German jüdisch, inherited from Old High German judeisc, borrowed from Latin iūdaeus (“Jewish, Judaean”), with the Latin ending replaced by the suffix -isc, which forms adjectives of belonging from names of peoples and persons, as in diutisc.[3][1] The EWA names iūdaicus beside it as a source.[3] The Latin word is Ancient Greek Ἰουδαῖος (Ioudaîos), from Ἰουδά (Ioudá, “Judah”), from Biblical Hebrew יְהוּדָה (yəhūḏāh).[1][4] Today it is felt as Jude with the suffix -isch.[1][5]

The same adjective is Old Saxon judēisk, Old English iudéisc and Gothic 𐌾𐌿𐌳𐌰𐌹𐍅𐌹𐍃𐌺𐍃 (judaiwisks).[6][1] The EWA notes that the regular modern form of the Old High German word would be judäisch; that word, “relating to Judaea”, is a new formation from the name of the country.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German judeisc “Jewish” is found in the Isidor translation, which Köbler dates to the end of the 8th century, and in glosses, Tatian, Otfrid and Notker from the 9th century on.[4][3][7] It was occasionally used as a noun, “the Jew”.[3] In Middle High German it appears from the Genesis of about 1060–1080 on.[8]

Semantic evolution

Luther's Bible speaks of das jüdische Land and das jüdische Volk.[9] In Early New High German the adjective used as a noun could also mean the Hebrew language.[10] Adelung (1793) records, besides the neutral sense “belonging to the Jews, their religion and customs”, a hostile figurative sense “greedy for gain”, which reflects the prejudice of the time.[11]

After 1945, because of the Nazi abuse of the noun Jude, public language often preferred the adjective, as in jüdische Mitbürger “Jewish fellow citizens”.[12]

Timeline

  • End of the 8th century – Old High German judeisc in the Isidor translation.[4]
  • 9th century – The adjective appears in glosses, Tatian and Otfrid.[3]
  • c. 1060–1080 – Middle High German jüdisch in the Genesis.[8]
  • 1793 – Adelung records the neutral and a pejorative sense.[11]
  • After 1945 – jüdische Mitbürger is used in public language in place of Juden.[12]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Jewish: relating to the Jews as a people: eine jüdische Gemeinde.[13][1]
  2. Characteristic of the Jews; relating to Jewish culture: jüdischer Humor.[13]
  3. Relating to Judaism (Judentum), the Jewish religion.[13]
  • Jude
  • jiddisch
  • judäisch
  • Judentum

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Lexer, Matthias (1872–1878), Mittelhochdeutsches Handwörterbuch, 3 vols., Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities
  3. ^ a b c d e f Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 5, 303
  4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  5. ^ Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
  6. ^ Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch (1952–), founded by Elisabeth Karg-Gasterstädt and Theodor Frings, Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag / De Gruyter; online awb.saw-leipzig.de, p. 4, 1831
  7. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 170
  8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  9. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 10, 2359
  10. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
  11. ^ a b Adelung, Johann Christoph (1793–1801), Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, 2nd ed., 4 vols., Leipzig: Breitkopf
  12. ^ a b Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  13. ^ a b c Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Jüdisch.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/de/j%C3%BCdisch. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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