Jew

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English Jeu, also Giw, Gyu and Jewe,^[2][3][4][5] borrowed from Anglo-Norman giu, also jeu and jew,^[6][7] and Old French giu, earlier juiu and jueu,^[2][4][8] from Latin Iūdaeus (“Jewish, a Jew”),^[6][3][9] from Ancient Greek Ἰουδαῖος (Ioudaîos).^[1][3][9] Most dictionaries trace the Greek word to Aramaic יְהוּדַי (yəhudāy, “inhabitant of Judaea, Jew”),^{[6][9][3][2][4]} which corresponds to Biblical Hebrew יְהוּדִי (yəhûḏî, “of Judah, a Jew”);^[3][2][4] Merriam-Webster and Collins go directly to the Hebrew.^[5][10] The Hebrew adjective is formed from יְהוּדָה (yəhûḏâ), Judah, the name of Jacob's fourth son, of the tribe descended from him and of the kingdom in southern Palestine.^[2][3][5] Etymonline and Weekley gloss the name as "celebrated",^[3][8] and Partridge as "praised".^[11] The English word replaced Iūdēas (“the Jews”), an earlier borrowing from Latin.^[3][2][12] The form of modern French juif is an analogical formation on the feminine juive.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A member of the Jewish people or a follower of their religion: before 1225, in a homily from the Lambeth manuscript.^[6] Barnhart finds giw probably before 1200 in the Ancrene Riwle,^[2] Etymonline dates the word to the late 12th century,^[3] and Dictionary.com to 1125–75.^[12] It is recorded early as a surname (Johannes le Jeu, 1241), although the OED says it is unclear whether such uses show the Middle English or the Anglo-Norman word.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

According to the OED, the ancient Hebrew people first called themselves by other names, and the self-designation behind this word was adopted only after the return from the Babylonian Exile.^[6] In English it named the people and the followers of their religion from the first,^[6] and spelling with J- prevailed from the 16th century.^[3] In Anglo-Norman and Old French it was extended to mean a moneylender by the late 13th century.^[6] From the early 16th century English also used it as a hostile or contemptuous term resting on stereotypes about money: the OED labels this use offensive and first records it in 1508,^[6] and Etymonline dates it to about 1600.^[3] Green's Dictionary of Slang says that nearly all slang combinations of the word are derogatory and play on such stereotypes.^[13] The verb appeared in the 1820s,^[3][13][6] and Merriam-Webster and the Shorter Oxford label it offensive;^[5][14] the Century Dictionary (1902), quoted by Etymonline, noted that Jews regarded it as opprobrious.^[3] Etymonline adds that an early 20th-century campaign against it was so successful that people began to avoid the noun and the adjective as well, using Hebrew instead.^[3] Other uses are the sense of an itinerant trader, whether Jewish or not (1803, now rare), a Navy slang sense of a ship's tailor (1916, now rare or disused) and the Australian shortening of jewfish (1882).^[6] Several old compounds have no clear link with Jewish people: the Jew's harp was earlier Jews' trump, and the reason for the name is unknown;^[4][8][3] Jew's ear, a fungus, mistranslates Medieval Latin auricula Judae (“Judas's ear”);^[4][8] and Etymonline explains Jews' money (Roman coins found in England) and the Jews' houses of Cornwall (remains of ancient tin smelting) as ancient things once credited to Jews.^[3][15]

Timeline

• before 1225 – a member of the Jewish people.^[6]
• 1241 – le Jeu, as a surname.^[6][2]
• c. 1275 – King of the Jews, a title of Jesus.^[6]
• 1508 – (offensive) a hostile or contemptuous term.^[6] Etymonline dates it to about 1600.^[3]
• 1540s – Jews' trump, followed by Jews' harp in the 1580s.^[3]
• 1803 – an itinerant trader or pedlar.^[6]
• 1824 – verb, (offensive) to cheat or haggle.^[3][13] The OED's first record is from 1825.^[6]
• 1882 – in Australia, a jewfish.^[6]
• 1916 – in Navy slang, a ship's tailor.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person belonging to the people, spread across the world, whose traditional religion is Judaism and who trace their descent to the ancient Israelites.^[6][10][5]
2. A person whose religion is Judaism.^[10][1]
3. A member of the nation in Palestine, from the 6th century BC to the 1st century AD, within which Judaism largely developed; earlier, a Judahite or Israelite.^[5]
4. (Australia, colloquial) A jewfish, especially the mulloway.^[6]
5. (offensive) A hostile or contemptuous term for a Jewish person, based on stereotypes about money.^[6][3][13]

Adjective

1. (usually offensive) Jewish.^[5][1]

Verb

1. (offensive) To cheat, or to haggle or beat down a price, in a use based on the same stereotypes; sometimes not capitalised.^{[5][14][6][13]}

Word family

• Jewish
• Jewry
• Jewess

Related words

• Judah
• Judaism
• Judaic
• Judas
• Jude
• Yiddish
• jewfish

Usage notes

Wiktionary notes that the noun is not generally taken as a slur and that most English-speaking Jews use it of themselves, but that using the word attributively or as an adjective has become offensive for historical reasons, and that Jewish is preferred there.^[1] Merriam-Webster labels the adjective usually offensive and the verb offensive,^[5] and the Shorter Oxford calls the verb considered offensive.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
8. ^ a b c d Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
9. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
11. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
12. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
13. ^ a b c d e Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
14. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
15. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)