ebreo Italian · revision 38796

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1252–1258, Storie de Troia e de Roma|origins=hbo עִבְרִי}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /eˈbrɛ.o/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ebreo''' (feminine ebrea, masculine plural ebrei, feminine plural ebree)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian forms include [[m|roa-oit|hebreo]], [[m|roa-oit|ebrëo]] and [[m|roa-oit|abreo]].^(TLIO) In Trentino and around Venice the form [[vec|abreo]] means “miser”.^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|hebraeus]],^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) [[der|grc|Ἑβραῖος|tr=Hebraîos]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) The Greek word comes from [[arc|עִבְרַי|tr=ʿiḇray]], the Aramaic form of [[hbo|עִבְרִי|tr=ʿiḇrī|t=Hebrew]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The Hebrew word is explained in two ways.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) DELI and Nocentini take it literally as “one who comes from the other side” (of the river), and Zingarelli gives this with a question mark.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Zingarelli 2010) GRADIT, Sabatini–Coletti, Treccani and Devoto derive it instead from the name of Eber, the supposed ancestor of the Hebrews.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Devoto 1968) Battisti and Alessio say it was the name foreigners gave Abraham, as a descendant of Eber.^(DEI|1409)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in the ''Storie de Troia e de Roma'', a Roman text of 1252–1258, as an adjective for the people of Israel.^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999) There the letters are listed by their inventors: Carmentis made the Latin ones, Cadmus the Greek, “and the Hebrew ones Moses” (''e le ebree Moises'').^(GDLI|5, 7)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian the word was used for the people of Israel, their faith and their language, and as a noun it could name the Hebrew language itself.^(TLIO) Petrarch writes of ''Judith ebrea, la saggia, casta e forte''.^(GDLI|5, 7) The learned adjective ''ebraico'' appears in the early 14th century and later took over the uses for things and for the language.^(DELI 1999) Bruno Migliorini described the modern distinction as a grammatical one: ''ebreo'' is said of people, ''ebraico'' of things, with some hesitation only for groups of people, while ''israeliano'' refers only to the state of Israel.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ A pejorative sense “miser, usurer” rests on an old antisemitic stereotype; the dictionaries label it as offensive.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011) Battisti and Alessio record it in popular speech,^(DEI|1409) and Manzoni has Don Rodrigo exclaim ''Che ebreo!'' over a costly whim.^(Zingarelli 2010) The legend of the ''ebreo errante'', the Wandering Jew condemned to walk the earth until the end of the world, appears in literature at the start of the 17th century and spread with Eugène Sue's novel ''Le Juif errant''; in Cecco Angiolieri the phrase stood for extreme old age.^(DEI|1409)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1252–1258 – The ''Storie de Troia e de Roma'' use ''ebreo''.^(TLIO)

+ * Early 14th century – Guido da Pisa uses ''ebraico''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1535 – Francesco Berni uses ''ebraico'' for the Hebrew language.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1570 – ''Ebraismo'' is recorded in Gabriele Fiamma.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1875 – ''Ebraicista'' “Hebraist” appears in the Rigutini–Fanfani dictionary.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1911 – Benedetto Croce uses ''ebraista'', perhaps for the first time.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|Jew]], a member of the Jewish people: ''Molti ebrei lasciarono la città nel 1938.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A person who professes [[ebraismo|alt=Judaism]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(offensive, from an antisemitic stereotype)'' A [[m|en|miser]], a [[m|en|usurer]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|Jewish]], of the Jewish people: ''una famiglia ebrea''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[ebraico|alt=Hebrew]], said of things or of the language.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ebraico]]

+ * [[ebraismo]]

+ * [[ebraista]]

+ * [[ebraicista]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[giudeo]]

+ * [[israelita]]

+ * [[la|hebraeus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Ebreo'' is used for people (''uno scrittore ebreo'') and ''ebraico'' for things and for the language (''un testo ebraico'').^(DELI 1999) ''Ebreo errante'' is also said of a restless person who never stays in one place.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020) ''Confondere ebrei e samaritani'' means to lump together things that only look alike.^(Gabrielli 2020)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}