Hebrew

English

Alternative forms

• Ebrew (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English Ebreu, from Old French Ebreu, from Latin hebraeus or hebraicus, from Ancient Greek Ἑβραῖος (Hebraîos), from Aramaic עִבְרַי (ʿiḇray), from Hebrew עִבְרִי (ʿiḇrī́).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhiːbɹuː/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

Hebrew (not comparable)

1. Of or pertaining to the Hebrew people or language.
   • 1995 May 21, Steven Levy, “The Unabomber and David Gelernter”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN, archived from the original on 6 November 2020:

     Nothing hangs on the walls, though a stained-glass Hebrew chai leans against the window.

Synonyms

• Hebraic

Derived terms

• Hebrew-Aramaic Scriptures
• Hebrew calendar
• Hebrew character
• Hebrew Scriptures
• setaceous Hebrew character

Translations

pertaining to the people

• Aghwan: 𐔴𐔱𐕙𐔰𐕒𐕡𐕎 (ebraun)
• Arabic: عِبْرَانِيّ (ʕibrāniyy), عِبْرِيّ (ar) (ʕibriyy)
• Armenian: հրեական (hy) (hreakan), եբրայական (hy) (ebrayakan)
• Asturian: hebréu (ast), hebraicu (ast)
• Basque: hebrear
• Belarusian: яўрэ́йскі (jawréjski), габрэ́йскі (habréjski)
• Bulgarian: евре́йски (bg) (evréjski)
• Catalan: hebreu (ca), hebraic
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 希伯來人 / 希伯来人 (zh) (xībóláirén), 希伯來 / 希伯来 (zh) (xībólái)

• Czech: hebrejský (cs) m
• Danish: hebraisk, hebræisk
• Dutch: Hebreeuws (nl)
• Esperanto: hebrea (eo)
• Estonian: heebrealane
• Finnish: heprealainen (fi)
• French: hébreu (fr), hébraïque (fr)
• Galician: hebraico
• German: hebräisch (de)
• Greek: εβραϊκός (el) (evraïkós)
• Hebrew: עִבְרִי (he) (ivrí)
• Hindi: इबरानी (hi) m (ibrānī), इब्रानी (hi) m (ibrānī), इब्री m (ibrī)
• Hungarian: héber (hu)
• Icelandic: hebrei
• Irish: Eabhrach m
• Istriot: abrieo
• Italian: ebraico (it), ebreo (it)
• Japanese: ヘブライ (heburai)
• Khmer: ហេព្រើរ (heeprəə)
• Lao: ເຮັບເຣີ (hep rœ̄)
• Latin: hebraeus
• Macedonian: еврејски (evrejski)
• Malay: orang Ibrani, Ibrani
• Marathi: हिब्रू (hibrū)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hebraisk (no)

  Nynorsk: hebraisk

• Old English: Ebrēisċ
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: عِبْرانی (ebrâni), عِبْری (ebri)

• Polish: hebrajski (pl)
• Portuguese: hebraico (pt)
• Romanian: evreiesc (ro)
• Russian: евре́йский (ru) (jevréjskij)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: хѐбре̄јскӣ, јѐврејскӣ, жѝдовскӣ (Croatia)

  Latin: hèbrējskī (sh), jèvrejskī (sh), žìdovskī (sh) (Croatia)

• Shan: ႁေႇပြႄး (hèe práae)
• Slovak: hebrejský (sk) m
• Slovene: judovski (sl), židovski (sl)
• Spanish: hebreo (es)
• Swedish: hebreisk (sv)
• Thai: ฮีบรู (th) (hii-bruu)

  Northern Thai: ᩌᩦᨷᩕᩪ

• Tigrinya: እብራዊ m (ʾəbrawi), ኣይሁዳዊ m (ʾayhudawi)
• Turkish: ibrani
• Ukrainian: євре́йський (jevréjsʹkyj)
• Urdu: عِبْرانی ('ibrānī), عِبْری ('ibrī)
• Vietnamese: (thuộc) người Do thái, Do thái
• Volapük: hebreyanik

pertaining to the language

• Aghwan: 𐕛𐔰𐕖𐔰𐕙𐔿𐔰 (vačarn'a)
• Arabic: عِبْرَانِيّ (ʕibrāniyy), عِبْرِيّ (ar) (ʕibriyy)

  Egyptian Arabic: عبري (ʕebri)

• Armenian: եբրայերեն (hy) (ebrayeren), հրեերեն (hy) (hreeren)
• Asturian: hebréu (ast), hebraicu (ast)
• Azerbaijani: ibri, ibrani, ivrit
• Basque: hebrear
• Bulgarian: иврит m (ivrit)
• Catalan: hebreu (ca), hebraic
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 希伯來語 / 希伯来语 (hei¹ baak³ loi⁴ jyu⁵)

  Mandarin: 希伯來語 / 希伯来语 (zh) (xībóláiyǔ), 希伯來 / 希伯来 (zh) (xībólái)

• Czech: hebrejský (cs) m
• Danish: hebraisk, hebræisk
• Esperanto: hebrea (eo)
• Estonian: heebreakeelne
• Finnish: hepreankielinen (fi)
• French: hébreu (fr), hébraïque (fr)
• Gagauz: ivrit
• Galician: hebraico
• German: hebräisch (de)
• Greek: εβραϊκός (el) (evraïkós)
• Hawaiian: Hepela
• Hebrew: עִבְרִי (he) (ivrí)
• Hindi: इबरानी (hi) f (ibrānī), इब्रानी (hi) f (ibrānī), इब्री f (ibrī)
• Hungarian: héber (hu)
• Icelandic: hebreska (is)
• Irish: Eabhraise
• Italian: ebraico (it)
• Japanese: ヘブライ (heburai)
• Kazakh: еврейше (evreişe)
• Korean: 헤브라이 (hebeurai)
• Latin: hebraeus
• Malay: bahasa Ibrani, Ibrani
• Marathi: हिब्रू (hibrū)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hebraisk (no)

  Nynorsk: hebraisk

• Old English: ebrēisċ
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: عِبْرانی (ebrâni), عِبْری (ebri)

• Polish: hebrajski (pl)
• Portuguese: hebraico (pt)
• Romanian: ebraic (ro)
• Russian: евре́йский (ru) (jevréjskij), иври́тский (ru) (ivrítskij)
• Scots: Hebrew, Ebrew, Ebreu
• Scottish Gaelic: Eabhrais f, Eabhra f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: хѐбре̄јскӣ, јѐврејскӣ, хибру, ивритски

  Latin: hèbrējskī (sh), jèvrejskī (sh), hibru, ivritski

• Slovak: hebrejský (sk)
• Spanish: hebreo (es)
• Swedish: hebreisk (sv), hebreiskspråkig
• Tigrinya: እብራይስጢ (ʾəbraysəṭi)
• Urdu: عِبْرانی ('ibrānī), عِبْری ('ibrī)
• Vietnamese: (thuộc) tiếng Do thái, Do thái
• Volapük: Hebreyapükik, hebreyik (vo)
• Yiddish: העברעיִש (hebreish), עבֿרי (ivri), לשון־קודשדיק (loshn-koydeshdik)

See also

• Israelite
• Israelitish
• Jewish

Noun

Hebrew (countable and uncountable, plural Hebrews)

1. (countable) A member or descendant of a Semitic people claiming descent from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
2. (countable) A descendant of the biblical Patriarch Eber.
3. (uncountable) The Semitic language spoken by the Hebrew people.
   • 2019 December 22, Annalee Newitz and Cyrus Farivar, “Nick Farmer knows dozens of languages, so he invented one for The Expanse”, in Ars Technica‎^[2]:

     The resulting Belter creole is a crazy mix of English, Chinese, romance languages like French, German, Persian, Hebrew, Zulu, and a few other surprises. Farmer says he has over 1,000 Belter words in his personal dictionary, and he keeps adding more as the show’s producers and fans request them.

4. (uncountable) The writing system used in Hebrew language.
5. (uncountable, colloquial) Unintelligible speech or writing.

Hyponyms

• (people): Jew, Samaritan
• (language): Biblical Hebrew, Ivrit, Neo-Hebraic

Derived terms

• (language): Biblical Hebrew, Classical Hebrew, Neo-Hebrew
• Hebrewess
• Shebrew (humorous)

Translations

person

• Arabic: عِبْرَانِيّ m (ʕibrāniyy), عِبْرِيّ (ar) m (ʕibriyy)
• Armenian: եբրայեցի (ebrayecʻi), հրեա (hrea)
• Asturian: hebréu (ast) m, hebrea (ast) f
• Basque: hebrear
• Catalan: hebreu (ca) m, hebrea (ca) f
• Cherokee: ᎠᏈᎷ (aquilu)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 希伯來人 / 希伯来人 (zh) (xībóláirén)

• Czech: Hebrej m, Hebrejec m
• Dutch: Hebreeër (nl) m, Hebreeërs (nl), Hebreeuwse (nl), Hebreïnne f, Hebreeuwsen
• Esperanto: hebreo (eo) (male or female), hebreino (female)
• Estonian: heebrealane
• Finnish: heprealainen (fi)
• French: Hébreu (fr) m, Hébreuse (fr) f
• Galician: hebreo (gl) m, hebrea f
• German: Hebräer (de) m, Hebräerin f
• Gothic: 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐌱𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌿𐍃 m (haibraius)
• Greek: Εβραίος (el) m (Evraíos), Εβραία (el) f (Evraía)

  Ancient Greek: Ἑβραῖος m (Hebraîos), Ἑβραία f (Hebraía)

• Hebrew: עִבְרִי (he) m (ivrí), עִבְרִים m pl (ivrím), עִבְרִיָּה f (ivriyá), עִבְרִיּוֹת f pl (ivriyót)
• Hungarian: héber (hu)
• Indonesian: orang Ibrani
• Interlingua: hebreo
• Irish: (♂♀) Eabhrach m
• Italian: ebreo (it) m, ebrea (it) f
• Japanese: ヘブライ (heburai)
• Korean: 유대인 (ko) (yudaein), 히브리인 (hibeuriin)
• Lao: ເຮັບເຣີ (hep rœ̄)
• Latin: hebraeus m, hebraea f
• Malay: orang Ibrani, Ibrani
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hebreer (no) m

  Nynorsk: hebrear m

• Old English: Ebrēisċ m
• Persian: عبری (fa) ('ebri)
• Polish: Hebrajczyk (pl) m pers, Hebrajka f
• Portuguese: hebreu (pt) m, hebraico (pt) m, hebreia (pt) f, hebraica f
• Romanian: evreu (ro) m, evreică (ro) f
• Russian: евре́й (ru) m anim (jevréj), евре́йка (ru) f (jevréjka)
• Scottish Gaelic: (♂♀) Eabhrach m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Хебреј m

  Latin: Hebrej m

• Shan: ႁေႇပြႄး (hèe práae)
• Sicilian: judeu m
• Slovak: Hebrej m, Hebrejka f
• Spanish: hebreo (es) m, hebrea (es) f
• Swedish: hebré (sv) c
• Thai: ฮีบรู (th) (hii-bruu)

  Northern Thai: ᩌᩦᨷᩕᩪ

• Tooro: Omuhebburaayo class 1
• Tumbuka: muHebere class 1
• Vietnamese: người Do thái
• Volapük: hebreyan (vo), hihebreyan (male), jihebreyan (female)
• Yiddish: עבֿרי m (ivri), ייִד m (yid)

language — see also Biblical Hebrew

• Afrikaans: Hebreeus (af)
• Albanian: gjuha hebraike
• Amharic: ዕብራይጥ (ʿəbrayṭ)
• Arabic: الْعِبْرَانِيَّة f (al-ʕibrāniyya), الْعِبْرِيَّة f (al-ʕibriyya)

  Egyptian Arabic: عبري m (ʕebri)

• Armenian: եբրայերեն (hy) (ebrayeren), հրեերեն (hy) (hreeren), իվրիտ (ivrit) (Modern Hebrew)
• Asturian: hebréu (ast) m
• Azerbaijani: İvrit dili (az)
• Basque: hebreera (eu)
• Belarusian: іўры́т (be) m (iwrýt)
• Bengali: ইবরানী (bn) (ibrānī)
• Breton: hebraeg (br) m, hebreeg (br) m
• Bulgarian: иври́т m (ivrít)
• Catalan: hebreu (ca) m
• Chichewa: Chihebri class 7
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 希伯來語 / 希伯来语 (zh) (xībóláiyǔ)

• Crimean Tatar: İbrani tili
• Czech: hebrejština (cs) f
• Danish: hebraisk n, hebræisk n
• Dutch: Hebreeuws (nl) n
• Esperanto: hebrea (eo) (la hebrea, la hebrea lingvo)
• Estonian: heebrea keel
• Finnish: heprea (fi), heprean kieli
• French: hébreu (fr) m
• Gagauz: Иврит дили (İvrit dili)
• Galician: hebreo (gl) m, hebraico m
• Georgian: ებრაული ენა (ebrauli ena), ებრაული (ka) (ebrauli)
• German: Hebräisch (de) n
• Greek: εβραϊκά (el) n pl (evraïká)
• Greenlandic: hebræerisut
• Hawaiian: ʻŌlelo Hepela
• Hebrew: עִבְרִית (he) f (ivrít)
• Hindi: इब्रानी (hi) m (ibrānī)
• Hungarian: héber (hu)
• Icelandic: hebreska (is) f
• Indonesian: ibrani (id), bahasa Ibrani
• Interlingua: hebreo
• Irish: Eabhrais f
• Italian: ebraico (it) m
• Japanese: ヘブライ語 (ja) (heburaigo)
• Korean: 히브리어 (ko) (hibeurieo)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: عیبری ('îbrî)

  Northern Kurdish: Îbranî (ku)

• Latin: hebraeus m
• Malay: bahasa Ibrani, Ibrani
• Maltese: Ebrew
• Māori: Reo Hīperu
• Marathi: हिब्रू f (hibrū)
• Navajo: Hííbwoo bizaad
• Norman: Hébreu m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hebraisk (no) m

  Nynorsk: hebraisk m

• Occitan: ebrèu (oc) m
• Old English: Ebrēisċ n
• Pashto: عبراني (ps)
• Persian: عبری (fa) ('ebri), عبرانی (fa) ('ebrâni)
• Polish: hebrajski (pl)
• Portuguese: hebraico (pt) m, hebreu (pt) m
• Romanian: limba ebraică f, ebraică (ro) f
• Russian: иври́т (ru) m (ivrít) (especially Modern Hebrew), евре́йский язы́к m (jevréjskij jazýk)
• Scottish Gaelic: Eabhra f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: хебрејски, јеврејски, хибру, иврит m

  Latin: hebrejski (sh), jevrejski (sh), hibru, ivrit (sh) m

• Sinhalese: හේබ්‍රෙව් භාෂාව (hēbrew bhāṣāwa)
• Slovak: hebrejčina (sk) f
• Spanish: hebreo (es) m
• Swedish: hebreiska (sv) c
• Thai: ภาษาฮิบรู (paa-sǎa híp-ruu)
• Tigrinya: ዕብራስጥ (ʿəbrasṭ)
• Tooro: Oruhebburaayo class 11
• Tumbuka: Cihebere class 7
• Turkish: İbranice (tr)
• Ukrainian: іври́т (uk) m (ivrýt)
• Urdu: عبرانی m (ibrānī)
• Vietnamese: tiếng Hê-brơ, tiếng Do Thái (vi)
• Volapük: Hebreyapük, hebrey (vo)
• Yao: Cihebeli class 7
• Yiddish: העברעיִש n (hebreish), לשון־קודש n (loshn-koydesh), עבֿרי (ivri)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked‌: "person"

• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} Yahudi (id), ^{(please verify)} Ibrani

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked‌: "language"

• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} Yahudi (id), ^{(please verify)} Ibrani
• Persian: ^{(please verify)} عبری (fa) ('ebri), ^{(please verify)} عبرانی (fa) ('ebrâni)

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Hebrew terms

References

• “Hebrew”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, →ISBN.
• “Hebrew”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• "Hebrew" in WordNet 2.0, Princeton University, 2003.

Further reading

• ISO 639-1 code he, ISO 639-3 code heb (SIL)
• Ethnologue entry for Hebrew, heb ⁠
• Hebrew language on Wikipedia.Wikipedia