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Jewishadjective

Meaning & use

Quotations

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Earlier version

Jewish, a. in OED Second Edition (1989)

1.
?1531–

Of, relating to, belonging to, or characteristic of Jews or Judaism; designating a person who is a Jew.
?1531
They haue rynges and oches and other ceremonyes, so many that there is in a maner now no thynge els in the churche, but all Iewysh maners.
R. Barnes, Supplic. Kinge Henrye VIII f. xxxj
1549
In obseruyng of dayes, and in other Iewyshe rules.
M. Coverdale et al., translation of Erasmus, Paraphrase Newe Testament vol. II. Col. ii. f. vi^v
1600
You..spet vpon my Iewish gaberdine.
W. Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice i. iii. 111
1704
The Jewish Doctors..observe to us, that throughout their whole Law thoughts are no where forbidden, but in the present Case and the other of worshipping false Gods.
A. Blackwell, Duty to God & Queen 14
1829
The Jewish Exodus, or deliverance from Egypt.
H. H. Milman, History of Jews ii. 85
1874
A Jewish medical school seems to have existed at Oxford.
J. R. Green, Short History of English People ii. §5. 83
1951
Yes—and have you seen it? A Jewish old clothes man would think twice about wearing it.
A. Powell, Question of Upbringing ii. 96
1970
It is now declared that under the law of Israel a person may be of Jewish nationality although not of Jewish religion, whereas under Rabbinic law the two are inseparable.
Times 24 January 7/1
2013
The novel is a sort of autobiographical memoir of Richler's teenage years growing up in a Jewish neighbourhood of Montreal.
Guardian 31 May (G2 section) 13/3
Judaism
the world people ethnicity, race, or heritage Jewish person [adjectives]
IsraelishOld English–

Of, belonging to, or relating to the Jewish people, considered as the descendants of Israel (see Israel, n. A.1, Israelite, n. A.1a); designating…
IsraelitishOld English–

Of or relating to the Jewish people, considered as the descendants of Israel (see Israel, n. A.1); esp. of or relating to the Israelites; that is…
JudeishOld English–1300

= Jewish, adj. 1.
Judewishc1175–1200

Jewish.
Hebrewisha1250–1823

Of, relating to, or belonging to Hebrew people or the Hebrew language; Hebrew. Obsolete.
Hebrewa1325–

Of, relating to, or belonging to Hebrews, Israelites, or Jews. Also of a person: that is a Hebrew (sense A.1a); (in non-Jewish use, now usually derog…
Hebraicc1405–

Of, relating to, or characteristic of Hebrew people or the Hebrew language; Hebrew.
Jewish?1531–

Of, relating to, belonging to, or characteristic of Jews or Judaism; designating a person who is a Jew.
Judaical1532–

= Judaic, adj.
Hebraical1536–

Of, relating to, or characteristic of Hebrew people or the Hebrew language; = Hebraic, adj.
Judaic1569–

Of, relating to, characteristic or reminiscent of Jewish people or culture; Jewish.
Israelite1574–

Of or relating to the Israelites; that is an Israelite. Also occasionally: of or relating to the Jewish people, considered as the descendants of…
Israelitical1609–

= Israelitish, adj.
Hebraistical1660–

Of, relating to, or characteristic of Hebrew people or the Hebrew language; = Hebraistic, adj.
Israelitic1677–

= Israelitish, adj.
Hebraistic1690–

Of, relating to, or characteristic of Hebrew people or the Hebrew language; Hebraic.
Shemite1791–

Of or relating to the Shemites; = Semitic, adj.
Semitic1814–

Of or relating to the Semites.
Anglo-Jewish1843–

Of or relating to the Jews in England (or Britain). Of a person: that is a Jewish native or inhabitant of England (or Britain).
Yiddisher1877–

Chiefly in Jewish usage: Jewish; characteristic of Jewish people.
Israelistic1889–

Of or relating to the Israelites; that is an Israelite. Also: of or relating to the Jewish people, considered as the descendants of Israel (see Israel…
non-Aryan1924–

Chiefly in Nazi (and neo-Nazi) ideology: designating a person or group not considered Aryan, esp. Jewish; of or relating to people not of northern…
Yahudi1959–

In Arabic-speaking or Muslim countries (in form Yahudi), and in some Jewish use, and hence in (chiefly… attributive as adj. Jewish.
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2.
1606–

derogatory and offensive. Extortionate; excessively concerned with making or saving money; stingy.
With reference to anti-Semitic stereotypes; cf. Jew n. 1b and note.
1606
Brokers y^t shaue poor men by most iewish interest.
T. Dekker, Seuen Deadly Sinnes of London vi. sig. F2
1801
Soane's office has offered only 19,000l...which is a Jewish offer.
Bishop of Lincoln in G. Rose, Diaries (1860) vol. I. 426
1852
You ask a Jewish price for it, Mr. Graves.
W. M. Thackeray, Henry Esmond vol. III. vi. 155
2019
Terrible, in my local off-license (which also is allowed to sell drinks on-premises), someone pouring wine for friends, recipient ‘Don't be so Jewish and fill it up.’
@stevekennedyuk 23 January in twitter.com (accessed 20 Mar. 2019)
derogatory offensive
the mind possession retaining niggardliness or meanness [adjectives] extremely
Jewish1606–

derogatory and offensive. Extortionate; excessively concerned with making or saving money; stingy.
poll-groat1745–1888

An extortionate tax. poll-groat bailiff: a collector of (excessive) taxes.
Shylockya1818–

After the manner of or characteristic of Shylock.
Shylockian1884–

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Pronunciation

British English

/ˈdʒuːɪʃ/

JOO-ish

U.S. English

/ˈdʒuɪʃ/

JOO-ish

Frequency

Jewish is one of the 2,000 most common words in modern written English. It is similar in frequency to words like conclude, cross, faith, shape, and unless.

It typically occurs about 70 times per million words in modern written English.

Jewish is in frequency band 6, which contains words occurring between 10 and 100 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands

Frequency data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.

Frequency of Jewish, adj., 1750–2010

* Occurrences per million words in written English

Historical frequency series are derived from Google Books Ngrams (version 2), a data set based on the Google Books corpus of several million books printed in English between 1500 and 2010.

The overall frequency for a given word is calculated by summing frequencies for the main form of the word, any plural or inflected forms, and any major spelling variations.

For sets of homographs (distinct entries that share the same word-form, e.g. mole, n.¹, mole, n.², mole, n.³, etc.), we have estimated the frequency of each homograph entry as a fraction of the total Ngrams frequency for the word-form. This may result in inaccuracies.

Decade	Frequency per million words
1750	22
1760	29
1770	17
1780	24
1790	21
1800	25
1810	30
1820	29
1830	28
1840	32
1850	27
1860	29
1870	30
1880	26
1890	30
1900	23
1910	27
1920	30
1930	43
1940	60
1950	57
1960	59
1970	64
1980	66
1990	74
2000	70
2010	70

Frequency of Jewish, adj., 2017–2023

* Occurrences per million words in written English

Modern frequency series are derived from a corpus of 20 billion words, covering the period from 2017 to the present. The corpus is mainly compiled from online news sources, and covers all major varieties of World English.

Period	Frequency per million words
Oct.–Dec. 2017	14
Jan.–Mar. 2018	25
Apr.–June 2018	27
July–Sept. 2018	28
Oct.–Dec. 2018	32
Jan.–Mar. 2019	30
Apr.–June 2019	27
July–Sept. 2019	26
Oct.–Dec. 2019	26
Jan.–Mar. 2020	24
Apr.–June 2020	19
July–Sept. 2020	21
Oct.–Dec. 2020	22
Jan.–Mar. 2021	19
Apr.–June 2021	24
July–Sept. 2021	18
Oct.–Dec. 2021	19
Jan.–Mar. 2022	23
Apr.–June 2022	21
July–Sept. 2022	17
Oct.–Dec. 2022	26
Jan.–Mar. 2023	21

Compounds & derived words

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Jewishness, n. 1537–

The fact, state, or quality of being Jewish; Jewish character or identity.

Jewishly, adv. 1538–

In a Jewish manner; after the customs or traditions of Jewish people.

Jewish-Christian, n. & adj. 1572–

Designating those religious, ethical, or cultural values or beliefs regarded as being common to both Judaism and Christianity; of, relating to, or…

Jewish stone, n. 1580–

The spine of a fossil sea urchin, formerly used medicinally to treat disorders of the kidneys and bladder; = Jew's stone, n. 1.

Jewish calendar, n. 1642–

A complex ancient calendar used in Judaism, typically to determine the date of religious festivals, holidays, etc., throughout the year.

Jewish quarter, n. 1658–

An area of a city or town inhabited mainly by, or traditionally associated with, Jewish people.

Jewish Christianity, n. 1737–

The state or fact of being Jewish-Christian. Also: Jewish-Christian culture, beliefs, etc. Cf. Judaeo-Christianity, n.

Jewish American, n. & adj. 1775–

An American of Jewish origin or descent.

anti-Jewish, adj. 1786–

German-Jewish, adj. 1787–

Jewish New Year, n. 1794–

The Jewish festival marking the start of the new year, celebrated on the first (and in the diaspora also the second) day of the month Tishri (Tishri…

Jewish emancipation, n. 1798–

The fact or process of ending legal discrimination against, and establishing equal rights for, Jewish people as national citizens.

Jewish question, n. 1821–

Now chiefly historical or offensive. (Usually with the) a question or debate about the appropriate status, rights, and treatment of Jewish people within a nation state or in society in…

un-Jewish, adj. 1822–

Not Jewish; uncharacteristic of the Jews or Judaism; not in accordance with Jewish principles.

Jewish-looking, adj. 1826–

Sometimes derogatory and offensive. Having an appearance resembling that of a Jewish person.

Jewish joke, n. 1842–

A joke told by or considered characteristic of Jewish people; (also) a joke making fun of Jewish people (cf. Jew joke, n.).

Anglo-Jewish, adj. 1843–

Of or relating to the Jews in England (or Britain). Of a person: that is a Jewish native or inhabitant of England (or Britain).

Jewish problem, n. 1846–

Now historical or offensive. (With the) a question or debate about the appropriate status, rights, and treatment of Jewish people within a nation state or in society in general…

Russian-Jewish, adj. 1850–

non-Jewish, adj. 1851–

Not Jewish.

pro-Jewish, adj. 1852–

philo-Jewish, adj. 1856–

Jewish Enlightenment, n. 1891–

An intellectual movement among Jewish people in central and eastern Europe during the late 18th and 19th centuries, having as its object the…

pre-Jewish, adj. 1899–

all-Jewish, adj. 1906–

Jewish penicillin, n. 1961–

(A humorous name for) chicken soup, strongly associated with Jewish culture, and popularly considered as a remedy for all ailments or valued for its…

Jewish mother, n. 1964–

Sometimes derogatory and offensive. Used as the type of a person who is overprotective, overbearing, or interfering; displaying characteristics or behaviour stereotypically associated…

Personal account

Jewishadjective

Quotations

Earlier version

Factsheet

What does the adjective Jewish mean?

How common is the adjective Jewish?

How is the adjective Jewish pronounced?

British English

U.S. English

Where does the adjective Jewish come from?

Nearby entries

Etymology

Summary

Meaning & use

Quotations

Contents

Earlier version

Pronunciation

British English

U.S. English

Consonants

Vowels

Other symbols

Consonants

Vowels

Other symbols

Consonants

Vowels

Forms

Variant forms

Frequency

Frequency of Jewish, adj., 1750–2010

Frequency of Jewish, adj., 2017–2023

Compounds & derived words

Quotations

Earlier version

Factsheet

What does the adjective Jewish mean?

How common is the adjective Jewish?

How is the adjective Jewish pronounced?

British English

U.S. English

Where does the adjective Jewish come from?

Nearby entries

Etymology

Summary

Meaning & use

Quotations

Contents

Earlier version

Pronunciation

British English

U.S. English

British English

Consonants

Vowels

Other symbols

U.S. English

Consonants

Vowels

Other symbols

Simple Text Respell

Consonants

Vowels

Forms

Variant forms

Frequency

Frequency of Jewish, adj., 1750–2010

Frequency of Jewish, adj., 2017–2023

Compounds & derived words