Zionism

[ zahy-uh-niz-uhm ]

noun
  1. a worldwide Jewish movement that resulted in the establishment and development of the state of Israel and that now supports the state of Israel as a Jewish homeland.

Origin of Zionism

1
First recorded in 1895–1900; Zion + -ism

Other words from Zionism

  • Zi·on·ist, noun, adjective
  • Zi·on·is·tic, adjective
  • Zi·on·ite [zahy-uhnahyt], /ˈzaɪˌənaɪt/, noun
  • an·ti-Zi·on·ism, noun
  • an·ti-Zi·on·ist, noun, adjective
  • non-Zi·on·ist, noun, adjective
  • pro-Zi·on·ism, noun
  • pro-Zi·on·ist, noun, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Zionism in a sentence

  • The contents of his volumes are of very uneven value: Zionist propaganda, addresses, and a certain number of well-written poems.

    Instigations | Ezra Pound
  • I have asked a number of Jews at various times who are in favour of the Zionist movement if they themselves are going there.

  • I am so keen a Zionist that I would use a whole bookful of stamps in the cause.

    Windfalls | (AKA Alpha of the Plough) Alfred George Gardiner
  • I am a Zionist, not on sentimental grounds, but on very practical grounds.

    Windfalls | (AKA Alpha of the Plough) Alfred George Gardiner
  • I am therefore fiercely on the side of the Zionist Jews, and fiercely against their opponents.

    Windfalls | (AKA Alpha of the Plough) Alfred George Gardiner

British Dictionary definitions for Zionism

Zionism

/ (ˈzaɪəˌnɪzəm) /


noun
  1. a political movement for the establishment and support of a national homeland for Jews in Palestine, now concerned chiefly with the development of the modern state of Israel

  2. a policy or movement for Jews to return to Palestine from the Diaspora

Derived forms of Zionism

  • Zionist, noun, adjective
  • Zionistic, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for Zionism

Zionism

The belief that Jews (see also Jews) should have their own nation; Jewish nationalism. Zionism gained much support among Jews and others in the early twentieth century, and the hoped-for nation was established in the late 1940s in Palestine, as the state of Israel. Zionism is opposed by most Arabs. (See Arab-Israeli conflict.)

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.