Jew

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Pronunciation 1.3 Noun 1.3.1 Usage notes 1.3.2 Synonyms 1.3.3 Translations 1.3.4 Derived terms 1.4 Verb

[edit] English

Wikipedia

[edit] Etymology

See the article Jew (word) in Wikipedia (an etymology of the word Jew).

[edit] Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -uː

[edit] Noun

Jew (plural Jews)

1. An adherent of Judaism.
2. A person who claims a cultural or ancestral connection to the Jewish people (see secular Jew).

   Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs
   

   dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with
   

   the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject
   

   to the same diseases, heal'd by the same means,
   

   warm'd and cool'd by the same winter and summer
   

   as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed?
   

   If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us,
   

   do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?

William Shakespeare The Merchant of Venice (Act III, scene I)

[edit] Usage notes

• The Jewish community overall has a common religion, culture, identity, and ethnicity, but individual Jews do not necessarily share all of these; therefore, a person might be a Jew by one standpoint but not by another.
• Additionally, there are some religious groups that identify themselves as part of Judaism, but that other Jewish groups might not; hence, use of the term Jew often depends on the speaker's opinions.
• The noun Jew is not offensive, and the overwhelming majority of English-speaking Jews use the noun Jew to identify themselves.
• That said, it has become offensive for historical reasons to use the word Jew attributively, in modifying another noun (as in "Jew lawyer"); the adjective Jewish is preferred for this purpose.
• Additionally, the derived verbs jew and jew down are considered offensive, as they reflect stereotypes considered offensive.

[edit] Synonyms

• Jewess (female — archaic)
• Hebrew (dated)
• Israelite (dated)
• kike (derogatory)
• Moses (dated, derogatory)
• yid (derogatory)

[edit] Translations

[edit] Derived terms

• Wandering Jew

[edit] Verb

to Jew (third-person singular simple present Jews, present participle Jewing, simple past and past participle Jewed)

1. (offensive) Alternative spelling of jew.