Jew

See also: jew

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English Giw, Ju, from Old French juiu, Giu, gyu, from Latin iūdaeus, from Ancient Greek Ἰουδαῖος (Ioudaîos), from Hebrew יְהוּדִי‎ (y'hudí)

Pronunciation
  • enPR: jo͞o, IPA(key): /dʒuː/
  • Audio (U.S.)(file)
  • Rhymes: -uː

Noun

Jew (plural Jews)

  1. An adherent of Judaism.
    Both Jews and Muslims refrain from eating pork.
  2. A member or descendent of the Jewish people.
    Many Jews eat pork.
    • c. 1600, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice (Act III, scene I)
      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?
  3. (derogatory) A miserly or greedy person; a spendthrift; a cheapskate.
    • 2010, Matthew S. Hiley, Hubris Falls, page 111:
      “Jesus, Williams, you're such a Jew,” Jimmy said in an annoyed, high-pitched tone. “Have you ever just paid a check, or do you always make an ass of yourself?”
  4. (naval, slang) A ship's tailor.
Usage notes
  • There is an archaic plural Jewes.
  • The Jewish community is often defined as having 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.
Synonyms
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Derived terms
Descendants
  • Sranan Tongo: Dyu
Translations

Verb

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

  1. (offensive) Alternative letter-case form of jew

Anagrams
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